Coparenting Patterns of Parents of an Infant With Complex Congenital Heart Disease: Qualitative Identification and Network Analysis of Effects of Infant Illness Severity and Guided Participation Intervention

Abstract

Introduction: The purpose of this secondary analysis, from a pilot randomized controlled trial of guided participation (GP), was to describe patterns of coparenting for mother and father dyads caring for an infant with complex congenital heart disease and to examine the influencing factors at infant age 6 months. Our theoretical framework included GP treatment, severity of neonatal illness (severity), coparenting pattern, and parent attention to infant weight gain (weight gain). Method: From transcribed interviews with 25 parent dyads at infant age 2 and 6 months, data relevant to coparenting were categorized for entry into a matrix table. These categories included family circumstances; infant health status, feeding, and sleeping; and how the parents worked in relation to each other for caregiving, the caregiving issues they were working on, and their caregiving goals. Results: The tabled data showed two coparenting patterns, collaborative and cooperative, with very little change from 2 to 6 months, and 6-month weight gain mention. We used Bayesian sensitivity network analysis to examine, at 6 months, GP effect in contrast to usual care (control group) effect and the effect of higher or lower severity on coparenting pattern and weight gain. The treatment group had greater percentage of collaborative coparenting pattern with higher severity. In contrast, the control group showed the percentage of dyads with a collaborative coparenting pattern was similar for higher and lower severity. Weight gain mention was higher with higher severity. Conclusion: Further coparenting pattern identification and study replication with a larger, diversified sample is planned.

Keywords: cardiac/cardiology < conceptual domain; family/child health < conceptual domain; patient centered < conceptual domain; qualitative < methods; qualitative methods; quantitative < methods.