Date

12-16-2025

Department

School of Behavioral Sciences

Degree

Doctor of Education in Community Care and Counseling (EdD)

Chair

Eva Starner

Keywords

NICU, Attachment, Neurodevelopment, Trauma, ACE, Early Life Stress

Disciplines

Counseling | Psychology

Abstract

Adverse childhood experiences (ACE) are hardships that occur in the life of a child before the age of 18. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of mothers whose child was hospitalized in a NICU during the first 2 months of life, focusing on traumatic injury or long-term trauma symptoms, as evidenced by intellectual delays, emotional regulation issues, or behavioral challenges in children. Purposeful, criterion, and snowball sampling were used to identify English-speaking participants over the age of 22 who served as a primary caretaker of a child currently between the ages of 4 and 11. A total of 13 mothers residing in the southern and midwestern regions of the United States participated in the interview. Early life experiences, specifically trauma, chronic stress, and neglect, can impact attachment and brain growth and functionality. These issues can lead to cognitive, emotional, and behavioral issues throughout childhood and into adulthood. This study aimed to explore and discover the common shared meaning of NICU hospitalization, utilizing an interpretive framework, gathering multiple and subjective meanings from several participants. Six themes emerged including: attachment ruptures, parental hypervigilance and advocacy, clinginess, resilience and cognitive strength, emotional dysregulation and sensitivity, and ongoing medical and developmental needs. This information described the phenomenon of NICU hospitalization from the perspectives of mothers. The findings are situated within the literature and recommendations for future research and limitations are presented.

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