The Effects of an Empowerment Program on the Knowledge, Self-Efficacy, Self-Esteem, and Attitudes of Mothers of Preterm Neonates

Hospitalization of a preterm neonate is a major crisis for the involved family that significantly affects parents’ quality of life. The main goal of empowerment programs is behavioral modification. The aim of this study was to assess the effects of an empowerment program on the knowledge, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and attitudes of the mothers of preterm neonates.
This pretest-posttest quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2014 on a convenience sample of 30 mothers whose preterm neonates were hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit of Valiasr (PBUH) hospital, Birjand, Iran. An empowerment training program was implemented based on the personal empowerment model in seven 30-min personal face-to-face training sessions. The data were collected using a maternal and neonatal demographic questionnaire, a researcher-made knowledge and attitude questionnaire, the Vahdaninya and colleagues’ self-efficacy questionnaire, and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Finally, the data were entered into the SPSS software (v. 18.0) and described using the measures of descriptive statistics (such as mean and standard deviation). Besides, the normality of the variables was assessed through the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, while the paired-sample t test was used to compare the pretest and posttest scores of knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and self-esteem at a significance level of 0.05.
The mean age was 27.93 ± 6.6 years for mothers and 10.9 ± 7.54 days for neonates. The mean scores of mothers’ knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy were significantly greater in the posttest than the pretest. Moreover, the posttest mean score of empowerment (69.5 ± 9.25) was significantly greater than the pretest mean score (60.30 ± 7.61).
Implementation of the empowerment program is effective in improving mothers’ knowledge, attitude, and self-efficacy. Appropriate education should be provided for the parents of preterm neonates hospitalized in neonatal intensive care units in order to involve them in the process of care delivery and improve their relationships with their preterm neonates.