Salomons Institute for Applied Psychology, Canterbury Christ Church University, Tunbridge Wells, UK.
Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry. 2023 Jul;28(3):1024-1037. doi: 10.1177/13591045231164866. Epub 2023 Mar 20.
The current study aimed to estimate the prevalence of common mental health difficulties in parents who have an infant with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GORD), and to identify psychological predictors of parental anxiety, depression, and well-being, as a platform for subsequent intervention development.
Parents of infants with GORD ( = 309) completed online psychometric measures of potential predictors (self-compassion, illness appraisals, and illness uncertainty), potential confounders (sleep quality, relationship satisfaction, social support, and infant feeding satisfaction), and mental health outcomes (anxiety, depression, and wellbeing). The outcome measures were repeated eight-weeks later ( = 103).
At the first time-point, 66% of participants exceed the clinical cut off for generalised anxiety disorder and 63% exceeded that for a depressive disorder. Both had significantly reduced eights-weeks later. Greater self-compassion predicted lower anxiety and depression, and better well-being, in both cross-sectional and longitudinal data, including when all confounders were controlled for. Illness uncertainty and illness appraisals were less consistent predictors. No robust differences were found between parents of infants with silent GORD and those with GORD with visible regurgitation.
Parents of infants with GORD showed high rates of anxiety and depression, which were elevated compared to those that have been found in perinatal and general population samples. Self-compassion was a consistent predictor of better mental health and has promise as a proximal intervention target. Future research could benefit from examining the efficacy of a compassion-focussed intervention in this population.
本研究旨在评估患有胃食管反流病（GORD）婴儿的父母常见心理健康问题的患病率，并确定父母焦虑、抑郁和幸福感的心理预测因素，为后续干预措施的发展奠定基础。
患有 GORD 婴儿的父母（n=309）在线完成了潜在预测因素（自我同情、疾病评估和疾病不确定性）、潜在混杂因素（睡眠质量、关系满意度、社会支持和婴儿喂养满意度）以及心理健康结果（焦虑、抑郁和幸福感）的心理计量评估。8 周后（n=103）重复进行了这些评估。
在第一次评估时，66%的参与者的广泛性焦虑障碍评分超过了临床临界值，63%的参与者的抑郁障碍评分超过了临床临界值。两种障碍在 8 周后都显著降低。自我同情程度较高预测了横断面和纵向数据中较低的焦虑和抑郁水平，以及更好的幸福感，即使控制了所有混杂因素也是如此。疾病不确定性和疾病评估的预测作用则不太一致。患有无声 GORD 和有可见反流的 GORD 的婴儿的父母之间没有发现明显的差异。
患有 GORD 婴儿的父母表现出较高的焦虑和抑郁发生率，与围产期和一般人群样本中的发生率相比有所升高。自我同情是心理健康状况较好的一个一致预测因素，作为一种近端干预目标具有很大的潜力。未来的研究可以从检查这种人群中以同情心为重点的干预措施的效果中受益。
