SynthesisPloS one2013
Rethinking stress in parents of preterm infants: a meta-analysis.
Synthesis in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05385198 (VOICE), which is not on this map. Cited by 87 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
VOICE: Values, Opportunities, Integration, Control and Evaluation: Towards a Partnership Between Parents of Very Premature Infants and Healthcare Professionals in China
Who cites it
87 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- What Makes Parents of Young Children Stressed? A Systematic Review of Quantitative Studies.Clinical child and family psychology review · 2026Pooled it
- A global perspective on parental stress in the neonatal intensive care unit: a meta-analytic study.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2020Pooled it
- Reducing parental trauma and stress in neonatal intensive care: systematic review and meta-analysis of hospital interventions.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2019Pooled it
- Oxytocin receptor antagonists for inhibiting preterm labour.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Family integrated care reduces stress in transferred parents of preterm infants, but not across all families: a stepped-wedge cluster-randomized trial.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2025Trial
- The effect of paternal anxiety on mother-infant bonding in neonatal intensive care.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Trial
- Early developmental support for preterm infants based on exploratory behaviors: A parallel randomized controlled study.Brain and behavior · 2023Trial
- The effect of family integrated care on the prognosis of premature infants.BMC pediatrics · 2022Trial
- Effectiveness of the Close Collaboration with Parents intervention on parent-infant closeness in NICU.BMC pediatrics · 2021Trial
- Creative Music Therapy with Premature Infants and Their Parents: A Mixed-Method Pilot Study on Parents' Anxiety, Stress and Depressive Symptoms and Parent-Infant Attachment.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Trial
- Effects on Parental Stress of Early Home-Based CareToy Intervention in Low-Risk Preterm Infants.Neural plasticity · 2019Trial
- Trial
- Patterns of psychological distress in mothers of preterm infants.Infant behavior & development · 2015Trial
- Primary Care Triple P for parents of NICU graduates with behavioral problems: a randomized, clinical trial using observations of parent-child interaction.BMC pediatrics · 2014Trial
- Early intervention program reduces stress in parents of preterms during childhood, a randomized controlled trial.Trials · 2014Trial
- Brief parenting intervention for parents of NICU graduates: a randomized, clinical trial of Primary Care Triple P.BMC pediatrics · 2013Trial
- Perceived Parental Stress in Open Bay Versus Single-Family Rooms in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992) · 2026Observational
- Effects of Music Genres Reflecting Maternal Listening Preferences During Pregnancy on Distress Markers in Italian Preterm Infants.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Intimate partner violence, multiple mental health conditions and risk of small vulnerable newborn births: a maternity population-based data linkage study.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Prevalence, predictors, and patterns of residential mobility by the parents of preterm infants.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026Article
27 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundWith improved medical outcome in preterm infants, the psychosocial situation of their families is receiving increasing attention. For parents, the birth of a preterm infant is generally regarded as a stressful experience, and therefore many interventions are based on reducing parental stress. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether parents of children born preterm experience more stress than parents of term-born children, which would justify these interventions. This meta-analysis provides a comprehensive account of parental stress in parents of preterm infants, from birth of the infant through to their adolescence. Mean levels of stress in specific domains of family functioning were investigated, and stress levels in parents of preterm and term infants, and fathers and mothers of preterm infants, were compared. Furthermore, we investigated moderators of parental stress. METHODS AND
findingsA random-effects meta-analysis was conducted including 38 studies describing 3025 parents of preterm (<37 wk) and low birth weight (<2500 g) infants. Parental stress was measured with two parent-reported questionnaires, the Parenting Stress Index and the Parental Stressor Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The results indicate that parents of preterm-born children experience only slightly more stress than parents of term-born children, with small effect sizes. Furthermore, mothers have slightly more stress than fathers, but these effect sizes are also small. Parents report more stress for infants with lower gestational ages and lower birth weights. There is a strong effect for infant birth year, with decreasing parental stress from the 1980s onward, probably due to increased quality of care for preterm infants.
conclusionsBased on our findings we argue that prematurity can best be regarded as one of the possible complications of birth, and not as a source of stress in itself.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.