Helping parents be present and care for their baby in the NICU
Examining Parent Presence and Participation in Caregiving in the NICU
This project follows parents of babies born before 32 weeks in the NICU to learn what helps or gets in the way of being present and involved, and how that involvement affects babies’ health and development.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Ohio State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Columbus, UNITED STATES) |
| Project ID | NIH-11162492 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If your baby was born before 32 weeks and is in the NICU, researchers will ask you to complete short surveys during the hospital stay to record how often you are present and what helps or prevents your participation. They will track those factors over time to see how they change through the NICU stay. The team will link parent presence and caregiving to infant clinical outcomes and early developmental signs and will test whether parent–infant responsiveness explains those links. They will also look at whether parent involvement lessens the effects of infant stress on health and development.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Parents of infants born before 32 weeks gestation who are admitted to a NICU and able to complete in-hospital surveys.
Not a fit: Parents of full-term infants, babies not in a NICU, or infants born at or after 32 weeks would not be the focus of this work and would not directly benefit from participating.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could help NICUs create supports that increase parent involvement and improve preterm infants' health and development.
How similar studies have performed: Previous research shows parent involvement can improve outcomes for preterm infants, but comprehensive longitudinal studies of barriers, mediators, and moderators like this are limited.
Where this research is happening
Columbus, UNITED STATES
- Ohio State University — Columbus, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Nist, Marliese D — Ohio State University
- Study coordinator: Nist, Marliese D
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.