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Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to assess levels of depression, anxiety and stress among parents of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)-admitted infants at Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) in Muscat, Oman, and to examine their association with parental sociodemographic characteristics and infants' clinical factors. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted at SQUH between December 2024 and March 2025 and included parents of NICU-admitted infants. Mental health status was assessed using the validated Arabic version of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-42), while sociodemographic and clinical data were collected using structured questionnaires. Descriptive and inferential statistical analyses were performed, with significance set at P ≤0.05. Results: A total of 86 participating parents were included; 44.2% were fathers, 54.7% mothers and 1.2% other caregivers with a mean age of 33.85 ± 5.81 years. Anxiety was most prevalent (23.3%), followed by depression (18.6%) and stress (10.5%). Depression was significantly higher among parents aged 20–29 years (P = 0.048). Prematurity was significantly associated with both depression and stress, while stress was also higher among parents with a history of stillbirth or those whose infants required resuscitation (P <0.05 each). Parents of male infants were significantly more likely to report depression and anxiety (P <0.05 each). While anxiety was more prevalent among parents of multiples compared to those of singletons (P = 0.034). Conclusions: Younger parental age, prematurity, male infant sex, multiple newborn, resuscitation and history of stillbirth were associated with psychological distress, highlighting the need for routine psychological screening and support in NICU.

Article Type

Original Study

Publication Date

3-5-2026

First Page

221

Last Page

229

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.

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