Abstract
The purpose of this study was to identify whether stress, social support, maternal age and infant birthweight contributed to role identity and role attainment in mothers of premature infants: (1) when the infant was being discharged from the hospital and maternal caretaking had been limited, and (2) when the infant had been home for four weeks and maternal caretaking had increased. Prior work implied that mothers of term infants had achieved a level of psychological preparedness. Similar information was needed about mothers of premature infants. The framework guiding this study proposed that the mother who experiences the birth of a premature infant has the normal process of maternal role development interrupted. This stressor is unwanted and unpredicted change. Maternal age and infant birthweight also interact with these stressors leading to stress in the role of parent, a role for which the mother is not yet ready. If the mother receives social support during this time, she has less stress in the role of parent and therefore, is able to achieve the transition to the role of mother.
Sigma Membership
Alpha Theta
Type
Dissertation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Observational
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Nursing, Families & Family Life, Mothers of Premature Infants
Advisor
Joy Hinson Penticuff
Degree
PhD
Degree Grantor
The University of Texas at Austin
Degree Year
1992
Recommended Citation
O'Pray, Mary, "Predictors of role identity and role attainment in mothers of premature infants" (2019). Dissertations. 464.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/dissertations/464
Rights Holder
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All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository.
All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
None: Degree-based Submission
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2019-03-01
Full Text of Presentation
wf_yes
Description
This dissertation has also been disseminated through the ProQuest Dissertations and Theses database. Dissertation/thesis number: 9309245; ProQuest document ID: 304028024. The author still retains copyright.