The effectiveness of parent sensitivity training program in public hospitals for families with premature infants in Hong Kong

Abstract

This study evaluated the effectiveness of parenting sensitivity training for parents with premature infants in the Chinese population in two publicly funded hospitals. Parents of hospitalized premature infants were recruited and randomly assigned to either the intervention group or the treatment-as-usual control group. Mothers in the intervention group received a parenting sensitivity training adapted from the Mother-Infant Transaction Program (Rauh et al., 1990), while those in the control group received standard care provided by the hospitals. Maternal perception of infant temperament and child difficulty, the quality of observed mother-infant interaction, maternal mood and stress, and change in infant weight and cognitive, language and fine motor abilities were included as treatment outcome indicators. Parenting sensitivity training helped mothers to attune better to the needs of their premature infants. Such enhanced mother-infant interaction seemed to help buffer preterm infants from harmful effects of the acute and chronic stress typically associated with premature birth, thereby improving physical and neurobehavioral development of the infants.