Wong Anisia, Fucile Sandra
School of Rehabilitation Therapy, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
Department of Pediatrics, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada.
J Neonatal Perinatal Med. 2025 May;18(3):226-234. doi: 10.1177/19345798251324449. Epub 2025 Mar 14.
IntroductionAdmission of an infant to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is a stressful event for parents. The physical separation and inability to hold their child due to minimal handling protocols or infection control such as in the recent COVID-19 pandemic is a major contributor to parental stress. Knowledge on a contact-free parent administered intervention to reduce the stress of parents whose infant necessitates neonatal intensive care is lacking.ObjectiveTo assess the effect of a contact-free, Story-Telling Attention-Refocusing (STAR) intervention on the acute stress of parents whose infant is in the NICU.MethodsA block-randomized controlled single-blind trial was conducted in a level II-III NICU. Parents in the experimental group provided the STAR intervention which consisted of designated prompts to share stories with their infants over a ten-minute period, three times per week, for 1 week. Parent acute stress was measured using the PSS:NICU questionnaire before and after the STAR intervention period, and differences in acute stress between mothers and fathers were assessed as well as parent satisfaction.ResultsTwenty-one parents completed the study. Results revealed that overall PSS:NICU stress scores lowered significantly within the intervention group ( = 0.04), and the intervention mediated acute stress of mothers and fathers differently ( = 0.01). Parents reported feeling overall satisfied with the STAR program and they felt less stressed in the hospital and more connected to their infants.ConclusionThe STAR program provides parents a unique opportunity to interact with their infant in a positive meaningful manner and may reduce acute stress in parents during their infants NICU stay.
引言
婴儿入住新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）对父母来说是一件压力很大的事情。由于诸如最近新冠疫情期间的最小化护理方案或感染控制措施，父母与孩子身体分离且无法抱孩子，这是导致父母压力的主要因素。目前缺乏关于一种由父母实施的非接触式干预措施以减轻其婴儿需要新生儿重症监护的父母压力的相关知识。
目的
评估一种非接触式的讲故事注意力重新聚焦（STAR）干预措施对其婴儿在NICU的父母急性压力的影响。
方法
在一家二级至三级NICU进行了一项整群随机对照单盲试验。实验组的父母提供STAR干预，该干预包括在十分钟内按照指定提示与他们的婴儿分享故事，每周三次，共持续1周。在STAR干预前后，使用PSS:NICU问卷测量父母的急性压力，并评估父母之间急性压力的差异以及父母的满意度。
结果
21位父母完成了研究。结果显示，干预组内PSS:NICU压力总分显著降低（P = 0.04），并且该干预对母亲和父亲急性压力的调节作用不同（P = 0.01）。父母报告对STAR项目总体感到满意，他们在医院时压力更小，与婴儿的联系更紧密。
结论
STAR项目为父母提供了一个以积极且有意义的方式与婴儿互动的独特机会，并可能减轻父母在其婴儿入住NICU期间的急性压力。
