The effects of moderate pressure massage on self-regulation and play in the preterm infant

Premature infants are at greater risk for learning problems and special education services. Deficits in self-regulatory functions may contribute to later difficulties in play, and peer relationships. Thus, this study examined whether mother-administered moderate pressure massage could improve self-regulation and play outcomes. The study design was an A-B nonconcurrent multiple baselines across subjects, with pretesting and posttesting via objective measures. Participants were five preterm infants 12–18 months corrected age, and their mothers. Baselines ranged from three to 7 weeks. Intervention duration was 6 weeks. Individualized mother generated goals were transformed into visual analogue scales which were used as the repeated measure and scored weekly by the mothers. The three standardized pretest–posttest scales included the Infant Toddler Social Emotional Assessment to measure self-regulation, the Revised Knox Preschool Play Scale to measure play age, and the Test of Playfulness to measure playfulness. In general, results suggest that moderate pressure massage improved visual analog scale (VAS) goals related to self-regulation and play. Pre test/post test data also suggested improvement in self regulation, play skills and playfulness. The study contributes important preliminary information about the benefits of parent administered massage as a cost-effective intervention that can positively impact self-regulation, playfulness and play skills.