Epstein Shulamit, Arnon Shmuel, Markova Gabriela, Nguyen Trinh, Hoehl Stefanie, Eitan Liat, Bauer-Rusek Sofia, Yakobson Dana, Gold Christian
School for Creative Arts Therapies, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
Faculty of Psychology, Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Vienna, 1010 Vienna, Austria.
Children (Basel). 2025 Sep 22;12(9):1273. doi: 10.3390/children12091273.
Supported infant-directed singing (IDS) for parents and their preterm infants has proven beneficial for parents and preterm infants' health and relationship building. Studying parent-infant contingent interactions through behavioral observations is an established method for assessing the quality of interactions. Very few studies have measured contingency between parent and preterm infants in the neonatal period during supported IDS.
We conducted a feasibility study to assess the possibility of analyzing parent-very preterm infant dyads' contingency during supported IDS in the NICU. We recruited four mother-infant dyads and video-recorded a single music therapy (MT) session before their discharge from the hospital. Two independent researchers coded three selected segments (beginning, middle, and end) from each video, according to adapted behavioral scales with inter-rater agreement analysis. Contingency between infant and maternal behaviors was analyzed.
Twelve video segments were coded. High inter-rater agreements (Cohen's kappa) were found for infant eye-opening (0.93), hand positions (0.79), and head orientation (0.94), as well as maternal head orientation (0.95) and vocalizations (0.95). During supported IDS, increased infant head orientation toward the mother, eyes closed, as well as maternal head orientation toward the infant (all < 0.001), were recorded compared to no IDS. Direction of the maternal head toward her infant was contingent on the infant's closed eyes, extended hands, and head not toward mother.
This feasibility study demonstrates contingency between mothers and their preterm infants' specific behaviors during IDS. These interactions can be analyzed through video segments with high inter-rater agreement. The method described might help in evaluating other modalities that might be related to contingency. Recent advances in AI can make this tool easier to accomplish, with further studies to evaluate the importance of contingency for child development. The findings suggest that supported IDS influences infant attention and regulation.
为父母及其早产婴儿提供支持的婴儿导向性歌唱（IDS）已被证明对父母和早产婴儿的健康及关系建立有益。通过行为观察研究母婴互动的偶然性是评估互动质量的既定方法。在支持性IDS期间，很少有研究测量新生儿期父母与早产婴儿之间的偶然性。
我们进行了一项可行性研究，以评估在新生儿重症监护病房（NICU）支持性IDS期间分析极早产婴儿二元组偶然性的可能性。我们招募了四对母婴二元组，并在他们出院前对一次音乐治疗（MT）课程进行了视频记录。两名独立研究人员根据经过调整的行为量表对每个视频中三个选定的片段（开始、中间和结尾）进行编码，并进行评分者间一致性分析。分析了婴儿与母亲行为之间的偶然性。
对12个视频片段进行了编码。在婴儿睁眼（0.93）、手部姿势（0.79）、头部朝向（0.94）以及母亲头部朝向（0.95）和发声（0.95）方面发现了较高的评分者间一致性（科恩kappa系数）。与无IDS相比，在支持性IDS期间，记录到婴儿头部朝向母亲增加、眼睛闭合，以及母亲头部朝向婴儿（均P<0.001）。母亲头部朝向婴儿的方向取决于婴儿的闭眼、伸手以及头部不朝向母亲。
这项可行性研究证明了在IDS期间母亲与早产婴儿特定行为之间的偶然性。这些互动可以通过具有高评分者间一致性的视频片段进行分析。所描述的方法可能有助于评估其他可能与偶然性相关的模式。人工智能的最新进展可以使这个工具更容易实现，还需要进一步研究来评估偶然性对儿童发育的重要性。研究结果表明，支持性IDS会影响婴儿的注意力和调节能力。
