453 - The Continuum of Mental Health in Mothers Following Preterm Birth Delivery

Poster Number: 453
Publication Number: 453.121

Grace C. Fitzallen, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; James Kirby, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Hudson (Gerry) Taylor, Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, United States; Helen G. Liley, The University of Queensland, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia; Samudragupta Bora, Mater Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Background: Despite extensive investigation, there is limited understanding of the continuum of maternal mental health after preterm birth delivery. Studies have almost exclusively adopted a psychopathology framework without adequate consideration for the conceptualization of related but distinct constructs, including eudemonic and hedonic well-being.

Objective: Describe rates of flourishing, moderate, and languishing well-being in mothers of children born preterm ( < 37 weeks gestation) across early childhood (3-5 years), middle childhood (6-9 years), and adolescence (10-18 years); and identify child clinical and social factors associated with flourishing well-being.

Design/Methods: Sample comprised 1,926 biological mothers of children born preterm stratified into three groups corresponding to child chronological age (early childhood n=865; middle childhood n=611; adolescence n=450). A descriptive profile of the sample characteristics is shown in Table 1. Maternal self-ratings were collected at a single time-point on the standardized 14-item Mental Health Continuum Short Form assessing eudemonic social, eudemonic psychological, and hedonic emotional well-being. Mothers were classified as flourishing if they scored highly on over half the eudemonic and at least a third of the hedonic items.

Results: Overall, 60.8% of mothers of children born preterm were classified with flourishing, 35.8% moderate, and 3.4% languishing well-being. Mothers of adolescents had significantly greater odds for flourishing than languishing/moderate well-being compared with mothers of children in early (OR=1.37, 95% CI=1.08–1.74, p=.009) and middle childhood (OR=1.30, 95% CI=1.01–1.67, p=.04). Along with child age, flourishing well-being was associated with older maternal age (β=.03, p=.003), higher maternal education (β=-.36, p=.02), and higher family socioeconomic status (β=-.62, p< .001) at childbirth. These variables together explained 37 to 51% of variance in flourishing compared with languishing/moderate well-being.Conclusion(s): Findings suggest a significant proportion of mothers of children born preterm experience positive longer-term well-being despite early distress experiences associated with preterm delivery. Although replication of findings using longitudinal study design is recommended, findings suggest the need to better understand pathways of posttraumatic growth and adjustment after preterm birth. Future research will inform modifiable factors targetable through early intervention, allowing for the optimization of maternal, child, and family outcomes within this high-risk population.