Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the paternal stress and nursing support as perceived by fathers of high risk infants admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU).
Methods The study participants included 88 fathers of high risk infants in NICUs. Their parental stress and nursing support were measured using a self-report questionnaire.
Results The parental stress level of the fathers was 3.57 of a possible 5. Among the parental stress items, ‘Relationship with infant and parental role’ had the highest scores. The perceived nursing support level was a relatively high, 3.90 on a 5-point scale. The lowest score was for the item ‘showed concern about my well-being.’ The parental stress was lower in fathers with low income, higher in fathers in nuclear families and when the infants’ condition was serious.
Conclusion The findings indicate that fathers of high risk infants experience intense parental stress. Thus when designing care to provide support for these fathers and their infants, it is necessary to encourage the fathers’ engagement, provide information on how to respond to the baby, and include supportive care to the fathers.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Factors influencing the perception of shared decision-making among parents of children with type 1 diabetes mellitus: A cross-sectional study guided by the Ottawa Decision Support Framework In Hyeong Choi, In Young Cho Journal of Pediatric Nursing.2025; 85: 346. CrossRef
Influencing Factors of Coping Strategies in Mothers of High‐Risk Newborns: Perceived Stress and Nursing Support Jung‐A Kim, Hye‐Young Jang International Journal of Nursing Practice.2025;[Epub] CrossRef
The experience of fathers whose infants were hospitalized in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in South Korea: A scoping review Jiyeon Lee, Sunyeob Choi Journal of Pediatric Nursing.2023; 72: 36. CrossRef
Effects of a Noncontact Visit Program in the NICU for the Prevention of COVID-19 Hye Young Ahn, Hee Jee Jo, Hyun Jeong Ko Healthcare.2023; 11(15): 2152. CrossRef
Reviewing recordings of neonatal resuscitation with parents Maria C den Boer, Mirjam Houtlosser, Ruben S G M Witlox, Roosmarijn van der Stap, Martine C de Vries, Enrico Lopriore, Arjan B te Pas Archives of Disease in Childhood - Fetal and Neona.2021; 106(4): 346. CrossRef
Differences in perceived parental stress between parents with very low birth weight infants and nurses in neonatal intensive care units, South Korea Seol-Hee Moon, Ho-Ran Park, Dong Yeon Kim Child Health Nursing Research.2021; 27(3): 297. CrossRef
Developing Nursing Standard Guidelines for Nurses in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Delphi Study Hanna Lee, Da-Jung Kim, Jeong-Won Han Healthcare.2020; 8(3): 320. CrossRef
The Relationship between Stress, Social Support, and Confidence in Paternal Role Perceived by Korean Fathers of High Risk Infants Jeong Hee Eom, YeoJin Im Journal of Pediatric Nursing.2019; 49: e21. CrossRef
Parental anxiety regarding premature infants and factors affecting parental concern Ju Yun Lee, Jung Hyun Lee, Gyu Min Yeon, Yu Jin Jung Journal for Specialists in Pediatric Nursing.2019;[Epub] CrossRef
Correlations between a Flexible Parental Visiting Environment and Parental Stress in Neonatal Intensive Care Units Su Jin Lee, Eun Kyoung Choi, Jeongok Park, Hee Soon Kim Child Health Nursing Research.2019; 25(4): 377. CrossRef
Experience of Becoming a Father of a High Risk Premature Infant Jeong Eon Park, Byoung Sook Lee Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing.2017; 47(2): 277. CrossRef
Purpose The purpose of this study was to identify effects of parenting stress in North Korean refugee fathers on their parenting behavior.
Methods A descriptive study design was used. Data were collected during 2014 and 2015 in a settlement support center for North Korean refugees and 99 North Korean refugee fathers participated. Data were analyzed using SPSS 21.0.
Results Warmth․encouragement parenting behavior received the highest score. The score for parenting stress was 81.98 out of 180, and 32.3% of participants were found to need professional help (≥PSI 90). There were significant negative correlations between warmth․encouragement parenting behavior and parenting stress. There were also significant positive correlations between rejection․neglect parenting behavior and parenting stress. Predictors of warmth․encouragement behavior were parent-child dysfunctional interaction which explained 10.1% of the variance. Predictors of rejection․neglect behavior were parent-child dysfunctional interaction, number of children and wife’s education level which explained 33.4% of the variance.
Conclusion Findings show that North Korean refugee fathers’ parenting stress significantly influenced warmth․encouragement and rejection․neglect parenting behavior indicating a need to identify ways to decrease parenting stress. Parenting education can guide North Korean refugee fathers to strengthen parent-child positive interactions and therefore promote their children’s growth and development.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Ambiguous Loss, Continuing Bonds, and Post-Separation Growth in North Korean Defector Women Kyong Ah Kim, Richard M. Lee, Hyein Chang Journal of Loss and Trauma.2025; : 1. CrossRef
가족관계에서 탈북청년들의 신념변화에 관한 질적 연구: 부모-자녀관계에서 ‘좋은 부모’에 관한 인식을 중심으로* 주람 전, 일현 배, 지홍 배, 윤정 신 Journal of Family Relations.2024; 28(4): 93. CrossRef
Development and effects of the PARENT (Parenting Acceptable Real Empathy Nurture Training) program for mothers who defected from North Korea In-Sook Lee, Jung-Hee Jeon Applied Nursing Research.2024; 79: 151839. CrossRef
Research Trends on the Parenting Behavior of North Korean Defectors: A Scoping Review Ocksim Kim, Seongmi Choi, JiYeon Choi, Sang Hui Chu Journal of Korean Public Health Nursing.2024; 38(1): 55. CrossRef
Influence of parenting efficacy, parenting stress, and acculturation stress on parent-child relations among North Korean refugee mothers In-Sook Lee, Jung-Hee Jeon Child Health Nursing Research.2021; 27(2): 171. CrossRef
Stress e competenze genitoriali nelle separazioni giudiziarie. Analisi dei fattori protettivi e di rischio nelle relazioni parentali Daniela Pajardi, Monia Vagni, Valeria Giostra, Viviana La Spada, Tiziana Maiorano RICERCHE DI PSICOLOGIA.2019; (4): 693. CrossRef
Structural Equation Model for Psychosocial Adjustment in North Korean Adolescent Refugees Insook Lee Child Health Nursing Research.2018; 24(3): 287. CrossRef
Purpose The purpose of this study was to examine the awareness of fathers about early childhood parenting.
Methods Selected fathers of children in early childhood were interviewed, and an open-ended questionnaire was utilized to identify the fathers’ awareness of the meaning of parenting, priority for parenting, opinions on paternal roles as a child raiser, parenting difficulties, and what education they wanted to receive as fathers. After their statements were collected, a content analysis was done.
Results Results of the content analysis showed there were 45 significant statements, which were classified into 17 categories. The fathers saw the meaning of parenting as being in five different domains: social, cognitive, emotional, physical and environmental. As for paternal roles, they thought that a fathers should serve as emotional supporters. The parenting difficulties that they faced were attributed to time constraints.
Conclusion For fathers, development of parent education programs that deal with early childhood parenting knowledge, communication methods and how to play with children according to their developmental stages are required, and qualitative research should be implemented to keep track of the process of changes in parenting characteristics.
The significance of father's parenting has been considered as a critical factor in facilitating growth and development and in promoting well-being of children. Pediatric nursing is a pertinent science to develop parenting roles, because it deals with knowledge and skills on growth and development and health of child. For this paper current studies were reviewed related to consequences to the family, content and factors influencing paternal parenting, and father's reactions to child rearing participation. Perspectives of future studies in pediatric nursing are summarized as follows. First, paternal parenting has to be studied more actively to contribute to family health and to meet the academic responsibility of pediatric nursing. Second, it is necessary to study the consequences to child's health and health behavior of paternal parenting. Also it is necessary to be concerned about fathers' reactions, like stress in parenting behavior, to understand the parenting father himself. Third, an objective measure of caregiving behavior (not self-reporting) is needed to determine whether the father is behaving appropriately. Further, experimental research has to be implemented to develop intervention programs for paternal parenting. It is hoped that the examination of these studies leads to develop of knowledge and practice in paternal parenting.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
A Study of First-time Fathers on Their Knowledge and Confidence in Newborn NamSuk Kim Journal of Digital Convergence.2016; 14(8): 537. CrossRef
Content Analysis of Parenting Awareness of Fathers with Young Children Sun-Jung Park, Ga-Yeon Ko, Eun-Young Choi Child Health Nursing Research.2015; 21(2): 91. CrossRef
An Analysis of Nursing Research on Child Rearing in Korea. Dong Won Lee, In Soo Kwon Child Health Nursing Research.2014; 20(4): 264. CrossRef