Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38212696›Full record

Trial reportBMC pregnancy and childbirth2024

The effect of paternal anxiety on mother-infant bonding in neonatal intensive care.

Mark Ettenberger, Łucja Bieleninik, Andreas Størksen Stordal, Claire Ghetti

Registry-linked trialOpen access · goldAbstract readRandomized Controlled TrialPragmatic Clinical Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC pregnancy and childbirth, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03564184 (Longitudinal Study of Music Therapy's Effectiveness for Premature Infants and Their Caregivers), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
2.7field-weighted citation impact, top 11% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT03564184 nacompletednot on this map

Longitudinal Study of Music Therapy's Effectiveness for Premature Infants and Their Caregivers: International Randomized Trial

TypeinterventionalSponsorNORCE Norwegian Research Centre ASRan2018 to 2022Enrolled213ConditionsPreterm BirthArmsMT during NICU, MT after NICU, Standard care
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Resiliency factors relevant to NICU parents' emotional and relational health.Journal of perinatology : official journal of the California Perinatal Association · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.

Mark EttenbergerMusic Therapy Service, Department of Social Management, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, Bogotá, Colombia.
Łucja BieleninikInstitute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdańsk, Gdańsk, Poland.
Andreas Størksen StordalNORCE Technology, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway.
Claire GhettiGAMUT - The Grieg Academy Music Therapy Research Centre, NORCE Norwegian Research Centre AS, Bergen, Norway. claire.ghetti@uib.no.
NORCE Research AS · NOFundación Santa Fe de Bogotá · COUniversity of Bergen · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe hospitalization of a preterm infant in the NICU can lead to mental health difficulties in parents, but not much is known how paternal anxiety might affect the mother-infant relationship.

methodsThis prospective cohort study is a secondary analysis investigating how paternal anxiety levels might affect maternal bonding in the NICU using the dataset of the multinational pragmatic randomized controlled trial LongSTEP. A linear mixed-effects model was used for correlations of paternal anxiety (GAD-7) and maternal bonding (PBQ) at NICU discharge, and at 6 and 12 months infant corrected age. Secondary analyses examined effects on paternal anxiety related to: site (Argentina, Colombia, Israel, Norway, and Poland), maternal depression (EPDS), infant gestational age at birth, paternal age, and type of pregnancy.

resultsPaternal anxiety did not predict maternal bonding at NICU discharge (p = 0.096), at 6 months (p = 0.316), or at 12 months infant corrected age (p = 0.473). Secondary outcomes showed a statistically significant site effect, with higher paternal anxiety levels at the two Colombian sites at baseline (p = 0.014 and p = 0.020) and for one site at discharge (p = 0.012), but not for paternal age (p = 0.925 and p = 0.793), infant gestational age at birth (p = 0.974 and p = 0.686 and p = 0.340), or type of pregnancy (p = 0.381). Maternal depression predicted paternal anxiety at baseline (p < 0.001) and at discharge (p = 0.003).

conclusionsIn this study, paternal anxiety did not predict maternal bonding. Paternal anxiety varied by site, indicating a need for research on potential cultural differences in manifestation of paternal anxiety. Maternal depression predicted paternal anxiety, confirming a previously reported correlation. Further research on variations in paternal mental health in the neonatal period is warranted, as well as exploration of the social contagion of mental health in preterm parents.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov NCT03564184.

Indexed as

Intensive Care, NeonatalMothersAnxietyFemaleHumansInfantInfant, NewbornInfant, PrematureIntensive Care Units, NeonatalMalePregnancyProspective StudiesAnxietyDepressionFathersMental healthMothersNeonatal intensive care unit (NICU)

Identifiers

PMID38212696
PMCPMC10782755
OpenAlexW4390744504

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.