Infant and Family Wellbeing after Cardiac Surgery: Life as a Pre-schooler

  • PhD student
    Tamera Clancy

Project Details

The aim of this sub-study of the Heart Supports project is to investigate the developmental trajectory and predictors of emotional and behavioural regulation in children who had cardiac surgery early in life.The primary aim of this study is to examine the relationship between data on markers of early infant distress and co-regulatory support collected when the children were infants on emotional and behavioural regulation at pre-school age. This sub-study is a longitudinal, prospective cohort study of a group of pre-schoolers with congenital heart disease (CHD), who had cardiac surgery in the first six months of life. The study includes these children at two different stages of their lives: six weeks after discharge from cardiac surgery (Time 1) and preschool age (3-4 years-old; Time 2). The study design includes use of standardised, clinician-rated observational measures, parent-report measures and a biomarker of stress regulation.

This study also aims to determine if the quality of the parent-child relationship moderates the observed outcomes in pre-schoolers’ emotional and behavioural regulation, particularly stress regulation.

Researchers

Tamera Clancy PhD Student

Supervisors:

  • Associate Professor Brigid Jordan
  • Dr Frank Muscara
  • Professor Carolina de Weerth (Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, The Netherlands)

Research Group

Paediatric social work research group



Faculty Research Themes

Child Health

School Research Themes

Child Health in Medicine



Key Contact

For further information about this research, please contact the research group leader.

Department / Centre

Paediatrics

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