{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T18:50:58Z","timestamp":1791312658987,"version":"4.3.1"},"reference-count":24,"publisher":"Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health)","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,1]],"date-time":"2026-08-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785542400000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["lww.com","ovid.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"\n BACKGROUND:<\/jats:title>\n Hospitalization of a preterm infant in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a significant stressor for mothers, often leading to heightened anxiety that affects both their well-being and maternal\u2013infant interaction. Spiritual self-care is a nonpharmacological approach that can help mothers manage anxiety and cope with their child\u2019s hospitalization. This study examines the impact of spiritual self-care education on maternal anxiety in mothers with preterm infants admitted to the NICU.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n MATERIALS AND METHODS:<\/jats:title>\n \n This quasi-experimental study involved 90 mothers of preterm infants, selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned to control (\n n<\/jats:italic>\n = 45) and intervention (\n n<\/jats:italic>\n = 45) groups. The intervention consisted of five 45-min spiritual self-care training sessions held every other day. Participants provided written informed consent, and data were collected using a demographic questionnaire and the Beck Anxiety Inventory (21 items). > Data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 27. The software was developed by IBM Corp., located in Armonk, New York, United States, applying\n t<\/jats:italic>\n -tests, Chi-square tests, and analysis of variance.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n RESULTS:<\/jats:title>\n \n The mean maternal age was 32.4 \u00b1 5.7 years in the intervention group and 33 \u00b1 6.06 years in the control group (\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.05). The mean birth weight was lower in the intervention group (2063.1 \u00b1 460.98 g vs. 2278 \u00b1 275.57 g,\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.05). Anxiety scores decreased significantly post-intervention in both groups (\n P<\/jats:italic>\n < 0.001), with a greater reduction observed in the intervention group.\n <\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>\n \n CONCLUSION:<\/jats:title>\n Spiritual self-care education significantly reduces anxiety in mothers of preterm infants, suggesting its usefulness for healthcare providers. Future research should explore how best to integrate spiritual self-care education into standard NICU care and investigate its impact on long-term maternal mental health outcomes.<\/jats:p>\n <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.4103\/jehp.jehp_759_25","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,31]],"date-time":"2026-08-31T14:02:01Z","timestamp":1788184921000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1097\/lww.0000000000001000","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Can spiritual care education reduce the anxiety of mothers of hospitalized immature infants?"],"prefix":"10.4103","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Maryam","family":"Karimi","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ali","family":"Khorshidi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Health and Environment Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Masoumeh","family":"Otaghi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mosayeb","family":"Mozafari","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Nursing, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"276","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]},"reference":[{"key":"R1-20261006","first-page":"61","article-title":"Exploring death anxiety among women with preterm births in Oman","volume":"14","author":"Baker","year":"2025","journal-title":"J Educ Health Promot"},{"key":"R2-20261006","first-page":"339","article-title":"The effect of spiritual self-care training on the anxiety of mothers of premature infants admitted to NICUs","volume":"13","author":"Heydarpoor","year":"2022","journal-title":"J Pharm Negat Results"},{"key":"R3-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"L875","DOI":"10.1152\/ajplung.00482.2020","article-title":"World Prematurity Day 2020: Together for babies born too soon\u2014Caring for the future.\u201d","volume":"319","author":"Gunjak","year":"2020","journal-title":"Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol"},{"key":"R4-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2","DOI":"10.32598\/ijn.34.6.1","article-title":"The Effect of implementing a family-centered empowerment model on the quality of life of parents of premature infants admitted to a neonatal intensive care unit","volume":"34","author":"Hoseinpour","year":"2022","journal-title":"Iran J Nurs"},{"key":"R5-20261006","first-page":"161","article-title":"The effect of spiritual self-care training on the attachment of mothers of premature babies hospitalized in the special neonatal ward of Taleghani Hospital, Ilam","volume":"45","author":"Rezaei","year":"2023","journal-title":"Med J Tabriz Uni Med Sci"},{"key":"R6-20261006","first-page":"471","article-title":"The causal model of spiritual well-being is based on the accompaniment of God and spiritual intelligence","volume":"13","author":"Ddin","year":"2024","journal-title":"J Educ Health Promot"},{"key":"R7-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"121","DOI":"10.29252\/hnmj.28.2.121","article-title":"The effect of family-based care on stress, anxiety, and depression of mothers with premature infants","volume":"28","author":"Pourkhani","year":"2018","journal-title":"J Holist Nurs Midwifery"},{"key":"R8-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"193","DOI":"10.1080\/02646838.2018.1540861","article-title":"Stress and anxiety among mothers of premature infants in a Malaysian neonatal intensive care unit","volume":"37","author":"Ong","year":"2019","journal-title":"J Reprod Infant Psychol"},{"key":"R9-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"359","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2018.00359","article-title":"Mothers\u2019 depression, anxiety, and mental representations after preterm birth: A study during the infant\u2019s hospitalization in a neonatal intensive care unit","volume":"6","author":"Trumello","year":"2018","journal-title":"Front Public Health"},{"key":"R10-20261006","first-page":"75","article-title":"A review of the role of spiritual care in the nursing profession","volume":"7","author":"Soheili","year":"2019","journal-title":"Religion Health"},{"key":"R11-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e89","DOI":"10.1016\/j.wombi.2017.08.002","article-title":"Spiritual needs of mothers with sick newborn or premature infants\u2014A cross-sectional survey among German mothers","volume":"31","author":"B\u00fcssing","year":"2018","journal-title":"Women Birth"},{"key":"R12-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"505","DOI":"10.3390\/rel13060505","article-title":"Relationship between neuroticism, spiritual well-being, and subjective well-being in Korean university students","volume":"13","author":"Yoo","year":"2022","journal-title":"Religions"},{"key":"R13-20261006","first-page":"9","article-title":"Effects of spiritual care on anxiety about childbirth in primiparous women","volume":"15","author":"Fallahi-Khoshknab","year":"2020","journal-title":"Iranian J Nurs Res"},{"key":"R14-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"674453","DOI":"10.3389\/fpsyg.2021.674453","article-title":"The process of spiritual care","volume":"12","author":"Nissen","year":"2021","journal-title":"Front Psychol"},{"key":"R15-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"537","DOI":"10.1177\/0193945918776328","article-title":"Nurse spiritual care: Prevalence and correlates","volume":"41","author":"Mamier","year":"2019","journal-title":"West J Nurs Res"},{"key":"R16-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"997","DOI":"10.1177\/0193945916686775","article-title":"The effect of spiritual care on stress levels of mothers in NICU","volume":"40","author":"K\u00fc\u00e7\u00fck","year":"2018","journal-title":"Western J Nurs Res"},{"key":"R17-20261006","first-page":"106","article-title":"Effect of spiritual care on hope and self-transcendence of mothers of premature neonates hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit","volume":"11","author":"Roveshty","year":"2020","journal-title":"Iranian J Neonatol"},{"key":"R18-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"159","DOI":"10.3390\/rel9050159","article-title":"The effect of spiritual care on depression in patients following coronary artery bypass surgery: A randomized controlled trial","volume":"9","author":"Tajbakhsh","year":"2018","journal-title":"Religions"},{"key":"R19-20261006","first-page":"46","article-title":"Effectiveness of religious teachings in reducing anxiety in pregnant women","volume":"4","author":"Azizi","year":"2017","journal-title":"J Relig Health"},{"issue":"3","key":"R20-20261006","first-page":"196","article-title":"The effect of spiritual care training on the self-efficacy of mothers of premature infants in the neonatal intensive care unit: A randomized clinical trial study","volume":"32","author":"Siddiqui","year":"2024","journal-title":"Avicenna J Nurs Midwifery Care"},{"key":"R21-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1080\/02646838.2019.1695041","article-title":"Maternal depression, anxiety, stress, and maternal-infant attachment in the neonatal intensive care unit","volume":"38","author":"Bonacquisti","year":"2020","journal-title":"J Reprod Infant Psychol"},{"key":"R22-20261006","first-page":"85","article-title":"The effect of spiritual self-care intervention with a blended learning approach on anxiety in women with preterm labor: A randomized controlled trial","volume":"11","author":"Maasoumi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Int J Community Based Nurs Midwifery"},{"key":"R23-20261006","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"284","DOI":"10.32598\/cmja.10.3.1021.1","article-title":"The effect of spiritual self-care training on the suffering of mothers of newborns admitted to the intensive care unit of sari hospitals","volume":"10","author":"Hashemzadeh","year":"2020","journal-title":"Complement Med J"},{"key":"R24-20261006","first-page":"136","article-title":"Psychometric properties of the beck anxiety inventory in age and gender groups of the Iranian population","volume":"66","author":"Kaviani","year":"2008","journal-title":"Tehran Univ Med Sci"}],"container-title":["Journal of Education and Health Promotion"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ovid.com\/10.4103\/jehp.jehp_759_25","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,6]],"date-time":"2026-10-06T18:01:07Z","timestamp":1791309667000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.ovid.com\/10.4103\/jehp.jehp_759_25"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]},"references-count":24,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4103\/jehp.jehp_759_25","relation":{},"ISSN":["2277-9531","2319-6440"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2277-9531","type":"print"},{"value":"2319-6440","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,8]]},"assertion":[{"value":"2025-04-24","name":"received","label":"Received","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}},{"value":"2025-07-26","name":"accepted","label":"Accepted","group":{"name":"publication_history","label":"Publication History"}}]}}