The relationship between mothers' knowledge and attitudes about newborn screenings and their anxiety levels

In this study, it was aimed to determine the relationship between the level of knowledge and attitudes about newborn screening programs and anxiety levels of mothers with 0-1 year old infants. In addition, it was examined whether the level of knowledge and attitudes about newborn screening programs and anxiety levels of mothers differed according to their different demographic characteristics. Using non-random convenience sampling method, 267 mothers with 0-1 year old children living in Artvin province participated in the study. In order to determine the knowledge and attitudes of mothers about newborn screenings, the "Maternal Attitudes and Knowledge about Newborn Screenings Scale" developed by Newcomb et al. in 2013 and adapted into Turkish by Erbay in 2020 and the "State Anxiety Scale" developed by Spielberger et al. in 1970 and adapted into Turkish by Öner and LeCompte in 1983 were used to determine the anxiety levels of mothers. "Mother's Personal Information Form" prepared by the researcher was used to obtain demographic information about the mothers. Pearson correlation analysis was performed to determine the relationships between mothers' knowledge and attitudes about newborn screening and their anxiety levels. In addition, independent sample t test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) technique were used to determine whether mothers' knowledge and attitudes about newborn screening programs and anxiety levels differed significantly according to different socio-demographic characteristics. As a result of the statistical analyses, a negative and low level significant relationship was found between mothers' knowledge and attitudes towards newborn screening and their anxiety levels (r = -.262, p < .01). It was examined whether the knowledge and attitude levels and anxiety levels of mothers about newborn screening tests differed according to different demographic characteristics. There was no statistically significant difference between the knowledge and attitude levels and anxiety levels of mothers about newborn screening tests and mothers' age, education level, employment status and income level. As a result, recommendations were made to take measures to ensure that mothers have sufficient knowledge about newborn screening programs and to reduce their anxiety levels about the process.