Language environments of infants in the NICU improve after a brief parent education intervention

Infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) face high risk for language delays, compounded by limited parent-infant interaction. Although intensive parent programs are effective, it is unclear whether brief interventions can also promote positive outcomes. We developed a brief, 30-min language education for parents, and conducted a randomized controlled trial of 100 infants across two NICUs assigned to either receive the intervention or standard care. Parents who received the intervention showed significantly greater pre-to-post gains in knowledge of infant cognitive and language development, and their infants experienced larger increases in speech exposure during family visits. Moderations revealed that the intervention was especially effective for parents with lower education levels, and whose infants had complex medical needs. Findings indicate that a brief educational intervention can meaningfully enhance parental knowledge and infant language exposure in the NICU. Future work should assess whether this accessible approach may reduce disparities in long-term neurodevelopmental outcomes.