At a glance
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Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) of Two Programs Supporting Early Infant Development Beginning in the Well Baby Nursery Through 4 Months of Age
In Brief
A clinical study evaluating Emotional Exchange (EE) and Newborn Care (NC) for Child Development and 2 related conditions. Completed, enrolled 132 participants across 1 site.
Signals
Detailed Summary
This study will assess whether the promotion of emotional exchange between mother and infant during the first four months of life improves primarily mother-child early relational health (ERH) and secondarily child neurodevelopmental and maternal mental health outcomes. In prior research on preterm infants, a similar intervention demonstrated increased quality of maternal caregiving behaviors and significant improvements in premature infants' neurodevelopment across multiple domains, including social-relatedness and attention problems. The goal of the emotional exchange intervention is to help mothers provide appropriate stimulation crucial for social, emotional, and neurobehavioral development, by helping the mother and child become attuned, or 'in sync', with each other. Measures of ERH, such as bonding, maternal sensitivity, and mother-child emotional connection will be compared between two groups: one receiving newborn parenting education and the other undergoing facilitated emotional exchange. Assessments will involve videos of mother-infant interactions during each intervention session and follow-up surveys conducted as part of a linked Institutional Review Board-approved study. Data collected in this study will contribute to understanding the underlying mechanisms of mother-infant interactions and their role in shaping optimal neurodevelopmental trajectories for infants and maternal mental health.
Study Details
Timeline
Arms & Interventions
Receives a facilitated emotional exchange session over Zoom in the Well Baby Nursery and up to 7 subsequent Zoom sessions over the next 4 months.
Receives didactic newborn parenting education delivering developmentally appropriate content over zoom at the same time points as the emotional exchange group.
Interventions
These sessions, conducted by a trained study staff member through Zoom, will involve storytelling and discussing emotional experiences with the baby, with prompts like sharing about the pregnancy or reactions to the baby's smiles.
Newborn Care (NC) is a teaching curriculum designed to provide mothers with developmentally appropriate information about newborn care. The curriculum is adapted from previously studied literature that increased maternal knowledge about both medical and developmental concerns.