Date Presented 03/23/24
Parent mental health and infant neurobehaviour may relate to the amount of multisensory co-occupations that infants engage in with their parents as compared with co-occupational engagement between infants and health care team members in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).
Primary Author and Speaker: Marinthea Richter
Contributing Authors: Amber M. Angell, Polly Kellner, Roberta Pineda
BACKGROUND: Parents and infants in the NICU engage in co-occupations such as skin-to-skin care, massage, diapering, bathing, and feeding. However, occupations in the NICU may be altered due to infant medical factors and developmental capacities, and/or parent mental health.1 When parents are not present in the NICU, co-occupations may also occur between infants and healthcare professionals/volunteers.
PURPOSE: To explore differences in parent mental health and infant neurodevelopmental outcomes based on whether parents or others (volunteers/healthcare professionals) engaged in more sensory-based co-occupations with infants in the NICU.
METHOD: The Supporting and Enhancing NICU Sensory Experiences (SENSE)2 program was trialed with thirty-five parent-infant dyads of preterm infants (born <32 weeks gestation). Co-occupational engagement in multisensory activities between infants and parent or healthcare team members were tracked on bedside logs throughout hospitalization. At term equivalent age, infant neurobehavior was assessed using the NICU Network Neurobehavioral Scale (NNNS) and parents completed self-report measures of mental health.
RESULTS: Eighty percent (n=28) of the infants engaged mostly in parent-infant co-occupations, while 20% (n=7) participated in more co-occupations with volunteers/healthcare professionals. Infants in the parent-infant co-occupations group had lower NNNS lethargy scores (p=0.036). Parents in the parent-infant co-occupations group had lower state anxiety scores (p=0.047), Parental Stress Scale and Parenting Stress Index (PSI) Stress subscale scores (p=0.003, p=0.012), and lower challenges on PSI parent-infant dysfunctional interaction subscale (p=0.021).3
CONCLUSION: Parent and infant outcomes seem to be influenced by the amount of parent-infant co-occupational engagement during NICU admission. Future research on NICU engagement related to family outcomes is warranted to inform clinical practice.
References
Fraga, E., Da Silva Dittz, E., & Machado, L. G. (2019). The construction of maternal co-occupation in the Neonatal intensive care unit. Brazilian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 27(1), 92–104. https://doi.org/10.4322/2526-8910.ctoAO1125
Pineda, R., Smith, J., Roussin, J., Wallendorf, M., Kellner, P., & Colditz, G. (2021). Randomized clinical trial investigating the effect of consistent, developmentally-appropriate, and evidence-based multisensory exposures in the NICU. Journal of Perinatology, 41(10), 2449–2462. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41372-021-01078-7
Richter M, Angell A, Kellner P, Smith J, Pineda R. Infant and Parent Outcomes Related to NICU-Based Co-occupational Engagement. OTJR: Occupational Therapy Journal of Research. 2023;0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/15394492231160690
