Effects of tactile stimulation by fathers on physiological responses and paternal attachment in infants in the NICU

Abstract

The aims of our pilot study were to test (1) the effectiveness of tactile stimulation by fathers on their infants’ physiological responses such as oxygen saturation levels, heart rates (HRs), and respiration rates (RRs) and (2) fathers’ perceived levels of attachment to infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). This was a quasi-experimental design using a control group, which assessed pre- and post-intervention differences via t tests. Twenty neonate–father dyads participated in the intervention and 20 neonate–father dyads populated a control group from one general hospital located in South Korea. Infants in the experimental group received tactile stimulation for one 10-minute period per day, for five consecutive days. Overall, we found that tactile stimulation by fathers significantly stabilized infants’ physiological status, including oxygen saturation levels, HRs, and RRs (t = 2.138, p = .039; t = −2.348, p = .024; t = −3.461, p = .001, respectively) with effect size ranged 0.67–1.10 and increased paternal attachment levels (t = 3.982, p = .001) with large effect size (1.29). This pilot study suggests that tactile stimulation by the father may be regarded as an important and potentially useful intervention for the care of infants in the NICU.