A Feasibility Study of a Physical and Occupational Therapy-Led and Parent-Administered Program to Improve Parent Mental Health and Infant Development.
Dana B McCarty, Stacey C Dusing, Deborah Thorpe and 7 others
PMID 37867378WHAT IT FOUND
A therapist-led program teaching parents massage and motor exercises was feasible and acceptable.
Parent anxiety, depression, and sense of competence improved significantly from admission to discharge, but without a control group, it is impossible to know if the program caused these changes or if parents simply felt better as their infants improved.
Key findings
01The program was feasible, with 92.5% of dyads retained through discharge and 87.8% of scheduled therapy sessions completed.
02Parents rated the intervention as highly acceptable and feasible, with scores of 4 or higher on a 5-point scale across all time points.
03Statistically significant improvements were observed in parent anxiety, depression, and sense of competence between baseline and discharge.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study was a single cohort with no control group, so it is impossible to determine if the improvements in parent mental health were due to the intervention or natural recovery as the infant's health stabilized. The sample size was small (27 infants), and the study was not powered to detect clinical effectiveness. Data collection adherence dropped sharply after discharge, particularly for in-person visits, limiting the reliability of long-term infant developmental outcomes. The study period overlapped with the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected visitation restrictions and may have influenced both parent stress levels and data collection rates.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The study was supported by the National Institutes of Health.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the TEMPO program effectively treats parent anxiety or depression. The improvements seen were from baseline to discharge in a single group without a control, so they likely reflect the natural trajectory of parents' mental health as their infants' medical status improved.