Parenting stress in the infant aphakia treatment study.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate parenting stress following infants' cataract extraction surgery, and to determine if levels of stress differ between 2 treatments for unilateral congenital cataract in a randomized clinical trial. METHODS At surgery, an intraocular lens (IOL) was implanted or children were left aphakic, treated with contact lens (CL). Stress measures were administered 3 months after surgery and at the first visit after the visual acuity (VA) assessment done at 12 months of age. RESULTS Caregivers in the IOL group reported higher levels of stress than those in the CL group 3 months after surgery, but there were no group differences in stress scores at the post-VA assessment. Stress scores did not change differentially for participants assigned to IOL versus CL treatments. CONCLUSIONS Treatment assignment did not have a significant impact on caregiver stress during infancy or on the change in stress during the child's first 2 years of life.