Tehran University of Medical Sciences Journal of Family and Reproductive Health 1735-8949 12 3 2018 12 15 The Effect of Stress Inoculation Training on Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy and Perceived Stress of Mothers With Low Birth Weight Infants: A Clinical Trial 160 168 EN Mohammad Mehdi Mohammadi Students Research Committee, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran Roghayeh Poursaberi Department of Education, Payame Noor University (PNU), Azarshahr, Iran 2018 08 22 2019 01 15 Objective: Mothers with low birth weight infants experience more stress, which results in reduced breastfeeding self-efficacy and exclusive breastfeeding; In this regard, stress Inoculation Training (SIT) is one of the effective ways for inoculation against stress and psychological distress; Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effect of SIT on breastfeeding self-efficacy and perceived stress of mothers with low birth weight infants. Materials and methods: This clinical trial study was conducted from October to December 2017 on 100 mothers with low birth weight infants; the infants had been hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in Kermanshah, Iran. The eligible mothers were randomly divided into two groups, i.e., intervention (n = 50) and control (n = 50) groups. Results: The mean score of breastfeeding self-efficacy, before SIT (33.82 ± 8.92) compared to after SIT (42.02 ± 8.83), significantly increased (p < 0.001), though no statistically significant difference was reported in the control group (p > 0.05). The mean score of perceived stress was significantly reduced after SIT (26.29 ± 6.49) compared to values before SIT (31.25 ± 5.82) (p < 0.001). Conclusion: The present study showed that on the one hand, SIT can effectively increase the breastfeeding self-efficacy in mothers with low birth weight infants; on the other hand, it can reduce their perceived stress. Therefore, the need for holding in-service training courses is felt in order to train the caregiving personnel, especially nurses, in applying the SIT technique. https://jfrh.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jfrh/article/view/948 https://jfrh.tums.ac.ir/index.php/jfrh/article/download/948/464