College of Nursing, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA.
College of Nursing, University of Central Florida, Orlando, FL, USA.
Can J Nurs Res. 2020 Jun;52(2):139-148. doi: 10.1177/0844562120910856. Epub 2020 Mar 19.
Recent Iraqi and Syrian immigrant families are exposed to stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms due to civil war. Recruitment challenges specific to conducting research within this population include the lack of knowledge about research, stigma of mental illness, and mistrust.
Among immigrant Iraqi and Syrian families: (1) evaluate the approach to recruitment and retention; and (2) evaluate the acceptability of the study procedures.
This feasibility study was conducted based on the work of Orsmond and Cohn. It is focused on the evaluation of recruitment capability and resulting sample characteristics and evaluation of acceptability and suitability of the study procedures. Mother-father-infant triads were recruited from a community center. Parents completed questionnaires about stress and depressive symptoms. Buccal swab samples were obtained from the triads to measure telomere length, and infant hair samples were obtained to measure cortisol level. Telomere length and hair cortisol were utilized as measures of chronic stress.
Ten mother-father-infant triads were enrolled out of 11 approached. Challenges faced this study included inability to reach families by telephone and the effect of cultural norms where the husband's permission was needed before proceeding, resulting in a slow pace of recruitment. The study strategy and procedures appeared to be feasible as all of the families who participated completed all study protocols.
This study provides feasibility data to inform the launching of a larger study to examine the associations of family stress with infant stress and development. These findings from Iraqi and Syrian families may be generalizable to studies seeking to recruit these and other immigrant and refugee population families.
由于内战，最近来自伊拉克和叙利亚的移民家庭面临着压力、焦虑和抑郁症状。在这一人群中开展研究面临的招募挑战包括对研究缺乏了解、对精神疾病的污名化以及不信任。
在移民伊拉克和叙利亚家庭中：（1）评估招募和保留的方法；（2）评估研究程序的可接受性。
这项可行性研究基于 Orsmond 和 Cohn 的工作。它专注于评估招募能力和由此产生的样本特征，以及评估研究程序的可接受性和适宜性。从社区中心招募了母婴-父亲三人组。父母完成了关于压力和抑郁症状的问卷。从三人组中采集口腔拭子样本以测量端粒长度，并采集婴儿头发样本以测量皮质醇水平。端粒长度和头发皮质醇被用作慢性应激的测量指标。
在 11 个被接触的家庭中，有 10 个母婴-父亲三人组被招募。本研究面临的挑战包括无法通过电话联系到家庭，以及文化规范的影响，即需要丈夫的同意才能继续，导致招募速度缓慢。研究策略和程序似乎是可行的，因为所有参与的家庭都完成了所有的研究方案。
这项研究提供了可行性数据，为开展一项更大规模的研究提供了信息，以检验家庭压力与婴儿压力和发育的关系。这些来自伊拉克和叙利亚家庭的发现可能适用于招募这些家庭和其他移民和难民家庭的研究。
