Comparison of the effect of narrative writing and art therapy on maternal stress in neonatal intensive care settings

Objective: This study was conducted to examine the effect of narrative writing and art therapy on maternal stress in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) during infants' hospitalization. Material and Methods: randomized controlled clinical trial with three parallel arms study was conducted among three groups of mothers with preterm infants in the NICUs of two teaching hospitals of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences. Pre- and post-tests were administered to a sample size of 105 during 9 months. The parental stressor scale (PSS) was used. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistical methods. Results: The mean maternal stress score was 54.94, 47.08, and 47.57 in the art therapy, narrative writing, and control before the intervention respectively, indicating no significant difference between the groups (p = .28). There was also no significant difference in the mean score of stress between the groups after the intervention (p = .92). Also, we found no significant difference in the mean score of parental role and parents' relationship and sights and sounds between the three groups on the second day (p = .22 and p =.12, respectively) but there was a significant difference in the mean score of infant behavior and appearance between the three groups (p = .05). There was no significant difference in parental role and parents' relationship (p = .31), infant behavior and appearance (p = .58), and sights and sounds (p = .67) between the three groups on the sixth day of intervention. Conclusions: Narrative writing and art therapy are only effective on the subscale of infant behavior and appearance in the PSS: NICU.