Parenting an infant with a congenital anomaly: how are perceived burden and perceived personal benefits related to parenting stress?

This study aimed to characterize parents’ negative (perceived burden) and positive (perceived personal benefits) perceptions about parenting an infant with a congenital anomaly (CA), and to investigate their role in parenting stress. Forty-three couples (43 mothers and 36 fathers) whose 6-month-old infants had a CA completed several questionnaires: the Impact on Family Scale-Revised, the Positive Contributions Scale, and the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form. The results showed similarities between maternal and paternal perceptions. For mothers, higher levels of burden and lower levels of personal benefits were found to predict higher levels of parenting stress. For fathers, greater burden was associated with higher levels of parenting stress. Some dimensions of personal benefits moderated the relationship between burden and parenting stress, for both genders. Specific strategies targeting negative and positive perceptions should be considered when developing psychological interventions to promote the family’s adaptation to the experience of parenting an infant with a CA.