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Effects on Parental Stress of Early Home-Based CareToy Intervention in Low-Risk Preterm Infants

Giuseppina Sgandurra1,2, Elena Beani1, Emanuela Inguaggiato1

  • 1Department of Developmental Neuroscience, IRCCS Fondazione Stella Maris, Calambrone, Pisa, Italy.

Neural Plasticity
|February 27, 2019
PubMed

Insights

The CareToy system, an early intervention for preterm infants, significantly reduced parental distress in mothers compared to standard care. This highlights the benefits of parent involvement in supporting families with preterm infants.

Area of Science:

  • Developmental Psychology
  • Pediatrics
  • Family Studies

Background:

  • Parenting preterm infants presents unique challenges compared to full-term infants.
  • Parental involvement in early intervention (EI) programs positively impacts child and parent psychosocial well-being.
  • The CareToy system offers intensive, individualized, home-based, family-centered EI for preterm infants (3-9 corrected months).

Purpose of the Study:

  • To evaluate the impact of the CareToy early intervention on parenting stress in parents of preterm infants.
  • To assess changes in parenting stress using the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF).
  • To compare the effects of CareToy intervention versus Standard Care on parental stress levels.

Main Methods:

  • A randomized controlled trial (RCT) subgroup evaluated parenting stress.
  • Parents completed the PSI-SF at baseline (T0) and after 4 weeks (T1).
  • Data were analyzed using nonparametric tests, with separate analyses for mothers and fathers.

Main Results:

  • 44 mothers and 44 fathers participated (24 CareToy, 20 Standard Care).
  • Mothers in the CareToy group showed a significant reduction in the Parental Distress subscale (p < 0.05) compared to the Standard Care group.
  • No significant differences in parenting stress were observed among fathers.

Conclusions:

  • CareToy intervention demonstrates effectiveness in reducing parental distress, particularly among mothers actively engaged with the system.
  • Findings underscore the importance of parental engagement in early intervention strategies for preterm infants.
  • The study supports the value of technology-assisted, home-based interventions for supporting families of preterm infants.

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