Story-Telling Attention-Refocusing (STAR) intervention to alleviate acute stress in parents of infants in the NICU

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 (<i>p</i> = 0.04), and the intervention mediated acute stress of mothers and fathers differently (<i>p</i> = 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.