Browsing by Author "Åberg, Veera"

Objective. Parenting sense of competence (PSOC) is a key factor in parenting and for the development and well-being of a child. Preterm birth is one of the risk factors for early parenting, which can challenge early development of PSOC, and can increase the risk for parents’ depressive symptoms. The results about associations between preterm birth and PSOC are controversial. Research has also focused only on the first year after preterm birth and the dimensions of PSOC have been studied narrowly. Additionally, the factors which can affect the relationship between preterm birth and PSOC, are largely unknown. The aim of the current study was to investigate the associations between preterm birth and PSOC, and its subdimensions parenting self-efficacy and satisfaction, when the child was between 1–6 years old. Additionally, it was explored whether mothers’ symptoms of depression moderate or mediate these associations. Methods. The data in this study is part of the Finnish Prediction and prevention of preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (PREDO) study. The sample (N=2420) includes 101 mothers whose child was born preterm (< 37 weeks of gestation) and 2319 mothers of children born full-term (37 – 41+6 weeks of gestation). Mothers evaluated their parenting sense of competence (Parenting Sense of Competence) and symptoms of depression (Beck Depression Inventory-II) when the child was between 1–6 years old. The associations, including steps of mediation analysis, were examined with linear and logistic regression models. Results and conclusions. The results of this study show that preterm birth is associated with lower PSOC and its subdimension of parenting self-efficacy, but not with satisfaction, when the child was between 1–6 years old. Mothers’ symptoms of depression did not moderate or mediate these associations. The results indicate that preterm birth can be one of the risk factors for PSOC and especially for parenting self-efficacy, and also regardless of mothers’ depression symptoms. The results add to previous knowledge about how preterm birth can affect parenting after child’s first year of life. Thus, after preterm birth, supporting PSOC as part of other parenting is recommendable long into childhood.