Mothers' depressed mood and anxiety levels are reduced after massaging their preterm infants.
Forty mothers whose preterm infants were about to be discharged from the Neonatal Intermediate Care Nursery (NICU) were randomly assigned to two groups: the first group of mothers conducted preterm infant massage and the second group only observed their preterm infants receiving massage. Both groups of mothers had lower depressed mood scores following the session. However, only the group who massaged their infants had lower anxiety scores after the session.
Feijó
Larissa
L
Touch Research Institutes, University of Miami School of Medicine, FL 33101, USA.
Hernandez-Reif
Maria
M
Field
Tiffany
T
Burns
William
W
Valley-Gray
Sarah
S
Simco
Edward
E
D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D008405:Massage / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy