Parental and Infant Mental Health in the NICU Settings and Post-Discharge
A special issue of Behavioral Sciences (ISSN 2076-328X). This special issue belongs to the section "Psychiatric, Emotional and Behavioral Disorders".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 15 January 2026 | Viewed by 113
Special Issue Editors
Interests: clinical psychiatry; maternal and infant mental health
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
About 10% of live births annually result in an admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Admission to the NICU is a psychologically and physically distressing event for infants and parents, increasing their vulnerability to a multitude of adverse outcomes. NICU parents suffer from higher rates of acute and chronic mental health issues. Similarly, NICU infants grow up to have higher rates of psychological, cognitive, and developmental problems. In turn, NICU parents and infants, at least in the short term, might struggle to establish an optimal bond. Research exploring the vulnerability and resilience factors in NICU parent and infant mental health is of critical importance. Moreover, finding the best ways to support and optimize NICU parent and infant mental health is pivotal. We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue on Parental and Infant Mental Health in the NICU to bring awareness to your research in this area and to foster further improvements in identification, assessment, and treatment options for mental health problems faced by this vulnerable group of parents and infants.
With this Special Issue, we aim to expand the knowledge of NICU parents and infants' psychological distress, long-term outcomes, best practices for screening and assessment, and treatment for improving outcomes further and overcoming barriers faced due to NICU admission or medical vulnerability.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:
- Maternal/paternal/parental mental health during the NICU admission and following discharge, including long-term trajectories;
- Infant mental health and developmental challenges/outcomes during the NICU admission and following discharge, including long-term trajectories;
- Parent–infant relational challenges, disturbances, trajectories, and interventions;
- Developmental care interventions that can promote NICU infant and parent well-being;
- Identification of vulnerability factors in NICU parents and infants that lead to higher probability of adverse outcomes and necessitate early identification/intervention;
- Identification of resiliency factors in NICU parents and infants and ways to promote resilience in this population;
- Collaborative models of care during the NICU admission and post-discharge;
- Novel models of training the neonatology team in trauma-informed care in the NICU and beyond;
- Preparing families for the discharge transition.
Dr. Soudabeh Givrad
Prof. Dr. Richard J. Shaw
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Behavioral Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- NICU infant mental health
- NICU maternal mental health
- NICU paternal mental health
- NICU parent-infant attachment
- NICU family mental health
- NICU mental health outcomes
- NICU mental health interventions
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
