The Research Purpose
The rationale for this study was to ascertain the efficiency of using Interaction coaching for at-risk parents and their infants (ICAP) intervention to uphold sensitive responsiveness between mothers undergoing postpartum depression and the newborns. The study aimed at establishing whether a subtle well planned coaching on mode of interaction and communication between a new mother and her infant could smooth the changeover of a mother as she strives to assimilate a new born in her life. A lot of background information was collected to assist the researchers to decipher the root cause of postpartum depressive symptoms (PPDS), how it affects the mother and the infant and the best measures necessary for ensuring safety on both parties. The results obtained were geared towards cementing responsiveness between a nursing mother and newborn.
Diverse evidence garnered through literature review points to the heinous repercussions accrued to maternal PPDS. This necessitated for design and implementation of a counter measure to ensure that the lives of the mother and the newborn are safe (Cassell, 2002). This research was carried among a group of risk mothers and infants to guarantee that accurate results were deduced. The promising outcome earned through the study indicates the need for unending exploration of interventions such as ICAP that are modified to support healthy dyadic interactive patterns (June et al., 2001).
Whilst the objective of this study is elaborately stated, the restrictions imposed on the researchers during the survey work could have subdued accuracy in the information obtained. The play sessions which were utilized for obtaining information were very brief thus the researchers did not have ample time to observe the subjects under study appropriately. The setting of obtaining the information was not natural and this hampered result precision; the consistency of the information obtained was compromised since all the factors were not favorable.
Literature Review
The study gives a chronological study of the PPDS disorder by foremost defining it and expounding on its likely cause. Meticulous background information is used to macerate the PPDS phenomena, offering prescience into its damages and how they can be avoided. The hypothesis of this study is formulated against the backdrop of the innumerable studies undertaken to unmask and explain the PPDS disorder. The foreknowledge of the concept under study through literature review gave the researchers a scope within which they operated and amassed the vital knowledge necessary for drawing conclusions (Burgess, 2003).
The credulity of the researchers was opened to all possibilities as they probed from a ramified pool of information for the purposes of shaping their perceptions and ideologies which were to be proven through the research study.
The literature review thou provided negligible information about the factors that lead to PPDS. Notably, not all women suffer this kind of depression and the literature review should have elucidated into what aggravated the depression in some women and not their counter parts. The review is very silent concerning the causal factors of the disorder and the age group severely affected by PPDS.
The literature review acts as the yardstick towards the final results attained through survey work. Owing to the fact that the literature review is based on previously conducted surveys gave the researchers insight and an indication into what the final results of the survey would be. Through the literature review, the researchers were equipped with backup information to help them in insuring that the deduced survey information was checked against the setting of the fore obtained research information.
Theoretical Framework
Information on PDDS exists in superfluity; however, there are very few proposed or even tested interventions to counter this depression. In this case the researchers had to have a methodically designed conceptual framework to avoid overlooking major issues correlated to this study. Drawing a foundation from the reviewed literature and the locale information deduced from the research aperture the researchers steered their study to compare with the initially obtained data.
The study framework is clearly detailed in the study methodology section which offers exhaustive information. As the study further progress to the summary of the information obtained, the researchers contracted their research perspective to focus on the ICAP suggested intervention, its expediency and how it helps in curbing the identified maternal disorder (Mehta, 1999). The capricious relation between the affected mother and the newborn was put under study to establish how unified relation between the two patients could be enhanced.
The assessment measures used in this study are reliable appropriate and valid, the researcher’s focus group was the patients of PPDS disorder. The sample of the 117 selected respondents was huge enough to warrant trustworthiness to the information obtained.
Research Design
The hypothesis of the study speculated that ICAP intervention would help to stifle depression tendencies amongst new mothers once they were trained and taught how to respond to the communication cues of the infants through this study. In order to confirm this hypothesis the researchers used an experimental design by involving 117 postpartum depressed mothers from Northeastern United States.
The nurses who carried out the study used direct observation to note and draw conclusions on how new mothers related to their children after they had been versed with the ICAP intervention. Conclusions drawn from this research follow logically with the data analyses from the literate review a factor which gives this study a lot of credibility. Owing to the diverse pool of respondents under investigation in this study there is sufficient evidence to warrant integrity of the data obtained (Fleming, 2003). In the final analysis, the information garnered through survey and literature is easy to comprehend and implement.
Data Collection
The researchers in this study were acutely aware of the disparity likely to occur incase the wrong group of participants were involved in the study. Thus, only licensed advanced practice nurses were utilized to identify and pick the right participants for the study. The exercise of collecting data was divided into two phases. In the first phase the licensed nurses picked the right candidates for the survey process after which they obtained informed consent to make sure that all the participants were involved in n the practice willingly not under pressure.
The second phase of this data collection process involved the intervention. The researchers gave home visits to the participants sampled for the survey at the interval of 4-8weeks, 10-14 weeks, and 14-18 where postpartum depressed mothers and their infants were observed and video taped to capture the degree of responsiveness. To add on this, the faction under study was trained using behavioral coaching which was intended to augment constructive maternal-infant receptiveness. The scales in this research included the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, Beck Depression Inventory-II, and the Dyadic Mutuality Code (Strauss, 2006)
The ICAP intervention protocol was subdivided into six major elements which guided the nurses to coach the new mothers on how to respond to the infants depending on their behavioral indications. Foremost the nurses sensitized the mothers on how to identify behavior cues of the child and tailor solutions to the arising problems. After this, the nurses guided the mothers to position the infants in line with what they desired. The nurses then proceeded to demonstrate how a mother could use, pauses, touch and voice to calm the baby. The mothers were encouraged to use trial and error methods to approach any signal of communication from the child. Any mother who succeeded to calm the baby after a foreseen problem was applauded. After the intervention was instilled the nurses sat down to observe the mothers interact with their children and recorded the findings.
Presentation of Data, Data Analysis, Results/Findings
The sample of the patients utilized in carrying out this research was summarized by use of descriptive statistics this is because a lot of background information concerning the patients was necessary for the process to be successful. The researcher used the standardized ANOVA repeated measure analysis to ensure that there was consistency in the information obtained in the research. The supposition of this research study was that the treatment group which was couched through the ICAP intervention would demonstrate considerably advanced maternal-infant responsiveness after the intervention, was supported(Malter,1997).
After the final results were analyzed and summarized it was ascertained that through the ICAP intervention, the mother-infant responsiveness was improved and the depression score was significantly reduced.
The conclusions drawn from the study thus heighten the fact that coaching strategy had a constructive effect on the mothers and heightened heir ability to read communication cues from their infants in order to respond to their needs appropriately.
Conclusions/Recommendations
This research was mired by shortcomings owing to some factors which were overlooked. For instance the sampled participants were only English speakers and this cut out a huge cluster of the potential respondents. In essence this limited a majority group from diverse locations from being surveyed thus compromising the objectivity of the research. There was a high likely chance for the research results to be warped by the influence of the nurses, each respondent was assigned to a specific nurse and the views obtained were interpreted under the predisposition of the nurse. This implied that if a particular nurse was biased in her interpretations the results offered were faulty.
The critique suggests that the future researches on this topic should include testing supplementary interventions intended to moderate the depression associated with childbirth. Further, the sample of the respondents to be used on this kind of research should be more diverse including non-English speaking respondents. The instruments used in the exercise should also be translated and authenticated to match the researcher’s ethnic and racial backgrounds composed of study population(Punch,2006) this would ensure that a more objective outcome would be deduced from the survey process.
Critiquer’s Recommendations for Applicability of Research Findings to Nursing Theory and Practice
During pre natal care the nurses in charge of expectant mothers should enrich them with the understanding concerning the postpartum adjustment and depression disorders. This information would be vital for the mothers after they give birth a sit will help them bridge the responsiveness rift between them and their infants. The nursing fraternity should be well acquainted with all the indicators that point to PPDS disorder in new mothers.
Once these symptoms are deduced from a patient the nurses should proceed to explain the problem to the new mother and offer the ICAP intervention in order to enhance responsiveness between them and their infants. ICAP intervention is a supportive behavioral coaching which promises a gainful approach to promote competent parenting mothers who are prone to the PPDS risk and their infants (June et al., 2001) thus it should be utilized and embraced in the nursing fraternity to counter the challenges broached by new mothers.
References
Burgess, G. (2003). Moral dilemmas in educational ethnography: The Ethics of In Relation To Educational Research. Falmer Press: London.
Cassell, J. (2002). The Harms, benefits And Errors Associated With Field Work. Fieldwork, Regulation and Publication, Springer Verlag: N.Y., pp 32- 39.
Fleming, O. (2003). A Companion to Qualitative Research. Sage Publishers: California.
Punch M., (2006).The Politics, Social Implications and Ethics of Fieldwork, Qualitative Research Methods Vol. 13, Sage Publications: California.
June A., et al (2001). Promoting responsiveness between mothers with depressive symptoms and their infants Journal of Nursing Scholarship. Indianapolis: Vol. 33, Iss. 4; pg. 323, 7 pgs.
Mehta, S. (1999). Effect of estrogen on serum and tissue levels of copper and zinc. Advances in Experimental Medicine & Biology. 258: 155-62, 1989.
Malter, R. F. (1997). Stress related disorders related with birth and tissue mineral analysis American Psychological Association. St. Petersburg: Florida.
Strauss C., (2006). Fundamentals of Qualitative Research: Skills and Procedures for Developing Analytical Theory. Thousand Oaks: California.