Efficacy of Parent-child Sleep Intervention

Summary

Background: Parents of healthy neonates commonly face sleep disruptions and disturbances after delivery. Notably, increasing challenges are evident among parents of ill infants who required clinical care after birth . These challenges can adversely affect psychological adaptation and parental efficacy which consequently impacting the infant's development. It is crucial to develop an effective parent-child sleep intervention for improving parent-infant sleep and mental well-being and uneventful family health outcomes.

Aim: To develop and evaluate the effects of parent-child sleep intervention on improving sleep quality, psychological health, and infant health in parents of infants at intermediate care nursery.

Methods: A randomized controlled trial will be conducted at the intermediate care nursery of a level III medical center at Taipei city. A total of 102 pairs of parents and infants will be recruited and randomly assigned to the experimental group or the control group. The intervention program consists of (1) parent-child sleep education, (2) heart rate variability biofeedback training, and (3) counseling and support. Data collection will be multiple time points, including baseline, 1 month postpartum, 3 months postpartum, and 6 months postpartum.

Anticipated results: Developing and evaluating a parent-child sleep intervention for postpartum parents and their infants. The findings will be an empirical evidence for pediatric care and family health promotion.

Conditions

• Sleep Quality
• Psychological Health
• Infant Health

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

parent-child sleep intervention

The intervention plan is as follows: (1) Parent-child sleep education includes two in-person session and four pre-recorded online sessions. Additionally, it provides educational handbooks tailored to the course content, segmented into sections for both parents and newborns. Each session lasts approximately 20 minutes; (2) Heart rate variability measurement and Heart rate variability biofeedback are conducted in classes in person. It guides parents through breathing exercises to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, thereby easing emotions and improving psychological health; (3) Professional counseling and support are provided separately at two weeks, one month, three months, and six months postpartum.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taiwan

  lead OTHER_GOV

Principal Investigators

• Chien-Hui Chan · Study Principal Investigator

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

60 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2024-02-20

Primary Completion

2025-05-24

Completion

2025-05-24

Countries

• Taiwan

Study Locations