A comparative study of distress tolerance and emotion regulation between mothers of preterm and full-term infants

Background and Objective: The hospitalization of newborns, whether premature or full-term, can have lasting psychological effects on parents and impact the parent-child relationship. Given the significant mental health challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, this study aimed to compare distress tolerance and emotion regulation in mothers of premature and full-term infants hospitalized in neonatal wards during the COVID-19 pandemic.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive comparative study was conducted from 2021 to 2022. This study continuously enrolled 100 mothers of premature infants and 100 mothers of full-term infants using stratified random sampling with proportional allocation. Hospitals affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences were strata, and the sample size was based on the number of available beds. Data were collected using a demographic questionnaire, the Distress Tolerance Scale developed by Simmons and Gaher, and the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire developed by Garnefski et al. Statistical analysis was performed using independent t-test, chi-square test, and ANCOVA in SPSS 26.Results: Given the statistically significant differences in delivery type (p = 0.004) and infant weight (p = 0.001) between the groups, ANCOVA was used to adjust for these variables when comparing distress tolerance and emotion regulation. A significant difference was observed only in the regulation subscale (p = 0.008), where mothers of full-term infants showed a lower mean score than mothers of premature infants. Regarding emotion regulation, mothers of premature infants scored significantly higher on self-blame (p = 0.022) and catastrophizing (p = 0.039). Conversely, mothers of full-term infants scored significantly higher on putting into perspective (p = 0.032) and other-blame (p = 0.022).Conclusion: Mothers of premature infants had lower distress tolerance than mothers of full-term infants.