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Family Nurture Intervention in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit improves social-relatedness, attention, and

Martha G Welch1,2,3,4, Morgan R Firestein2, Judy Austin5

  • 1Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA.

Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, and Allied Disciplines
|March 13, 2015
PubMed

Insights

Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) in the NICU improves neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes for preterm infants. FNI enhances cognitive and language scores and reduces attention problems and autism-related concerns.

Area of Science:

  • Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) research
  • Developmental pediatrics
  • Maternal-infant bonding studies

Background:

  • Preterm infants face high risks for neurodevelopmental and behavioral issues.
  • Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) aims to mitigate adverse effects of maternal-infant separation in the NICU.
  • This study evaluates FNI's impact on neurobehavioral outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To assess the effectiveness of Family Nurture Intervention (FNI) on preterm infants' neurodevelopmental and behavioral outcomes.
  • To compare outcomes between infants receiving FNI and those receiving standard care (SC).
  • To identify specific domains of improvement following FNI.

Main Methods:

  • Longitudinal study of preterm infants assessed at 18 months corrected age.
  • Infants were randomized at birth to FNI or standard care (SC).
  • Neurobehavioral assessments included Bayley Scales of Infant Development III (Bayley-III), Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), and Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (M-CHAT).

Main Results:

  • FNI significantly improved Bayley-III cognitive and language scores.
  • FNI infants exhibited fewer attention problems on the CBCL.
  • FNI led to significantly lower rates of failed M-CHAT items, particularly social-relatedness items.

Conclusions:

  • Family Nurture Intervention is the first NICU intervention demonstrating broad improvements in preterm infant neurodevelopment, social-relatedness, and attention.
  • Facilitating emotional interactions between mothers and infants in the NICU appears crucial for altering preterm infants' developmental trajectories.
  • FNI offers a promising approach to enhance long-term outcomes for vulnerable preterm populations.
Abstract

Keywords:
BayleyM-CHATNurtureintervention

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