Maternal anxiety following newborn hearing screening: the moderating role of knowledge

Objectives To describe the impact upon maternal anxiety of newborn hearing screening and examine the possible moderating role of knowledge. Methods Questionnaires assessing maternal state anxiety, worry and certainty about the baby's hearing, and knowledge about screening, were sent to four groups of mothers three weeks after screening: Group 1 consisted of mothers whose babies had clear responses on a first or second screening test (n = 103); Group 2 consisted of mothers whose babies had clear responses on the third screening test (n = 81); Group 3 consisted of mothers whose babies did not have clear responses in one ear at the third screening test and were referred for audiological assessment (n = 105); and Group 4 consisted of mothers whose babies did not have clear responses in either ear at the third hearing test and were referred for audiological assessment (n = 55). Results Although mean anxiety levels were in the normal range, there was a significant trend for anxiety to rise as testing increased (F(1,327) = 4.280, P < 0.05). Worry increased significantly (F(1,337) = 70.432, P < 0.001) and certainty decreased significantly (F(1,339) = 27.474, P = 0.001) as the number of tests increased. Although total knowledge did not significantly moderate anxiety (R = 0.016, P = 0.096), there was a significant interaction between mothers' group and one knowledge item, understanding that receipt of no clear responses was unlikely to mean that the baby had a hearing loss: mothers in Group 4 who understood this had lower anxiety (F(3,323) = 4.791, P = 0.01) and lower worry (F(3,332) = 3.565, P < 0.01) compared with mothers who did not. Conclusions Understanding the meaning of being recalled following screening may avoid some of the anxiety associated with this.