the effect of stress inoculation training on breastfeeding self-efficacy and perceived stress of mothers with low birth weight infants: a clinical trial

Objective: mothers with low birth weight infants experience more stress, which results in reduced breastfeeding self-efficacy and exclusive breastfeeding; in this regard, stress inoculation training (sit) is one of the effective ways for inoculation against stress and psychological distress; therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of sit on breastfeeding self-efficacy and perceived stress of mothers with low birth weight infants. materials and methods: this clinical trial study was conducted from october to december 2017 on 100 mothers with low birth weight infants; the infants had been hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (nicu) in kermanshah, iran. the eligible mothers were randomly divided into two groups, i.e., intervention (n = 50) and control (n = 50) groups. results: the mean score of breastfeeding self-efficacy, before sit (33.82 ± 8.92) compared to after sit (42.02 ± 8.83), significantly increased (p < 0.001), though no statistically significant difference was reported in the control group (p > 0.05). the mean score of perceived stress was significantly reduced after sit (26.29 ± 6.49) compared to values before sit (31.25 ± 5.82) (p < 0.001). conclusion: the present study showed that on the one hand, sit can effectively increase the breastfeeding self-efficacy in mothers with low birth weight infants; on the other hand, it can reduce their perceived stress. therefore, the need for holding in-service training courses is felt in order to train the caregiving personnel, especially nurses, in applying the sit technique.