Determining the relationship between anxiety levels and social support of parents with babies in the neonatal intensive care unit

This research was conducted to determine the relationship between the anxiety levels and social support of parents with babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The population of the research is all parents of babies who were treated for at least 48 hours in Hatay Training and Research Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between 15 March 2022 and 15 June 2022, and the sample of the research is 250 parents of babies meeting the inclusion criteria who were treated for at least 48 hours in Hatay Training and Research Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit between 15 March 2022 and 15 June 2022. The data of the study were collected with the "Parent Information Form", "Baby Information Form", "Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale" and "Beck Anxiety Scale". In the evaluation of the data, an independent sample t test was used to compare quantitative data for the difference between two independent groups, and a one-way variance test was used to compare more than two independent groups, and in case of a difference, Bonferroni was used to find the group that made the difference. Spearman correlation was applied to test the relationship between numerical variables. More than half of the parents whose babies are in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit are between the ages of 18-29 and the average age is 28.60±6.44. The social support that working parents receive from their families is lower than that of non-working individuals, parents whose income is less than their expenses receive the lowest support from a special person, and parents who have previously experienced a baby loss receive the support from family, friends and a special person at a lower level than individuals who have not experienced a baby loss. It was determined that the support that parents with unplanned pregnancies received from family and friends was lower than that of those with planned pregnancies, that the anxiety level of mothers whose babies were in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit was higher than that of fathers, that parents experienced severe anxiety, and that the anxiety level of parents increased as the support of family and friends decreased. According to these findings, it is recommended that educational programs regarding the mental status and social support of parents with babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit should be conducted and this study should be applied for all parents whose babies are treated in the NICU in Turkey. Keywords: Parents with babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit; Social support; Anxiety, Nursing