Parents who are experiencing anxiety, stress or depression due to having a newborn in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) benefit greatly from a range of interventions—both comprehensive psychotherapies
and educational approaches that require fewer resources—according to a
report in
JAMA Pediatrics. The effect sizes for all tested interventions ranged from large to extremely large.
Why It's Relevant
Having a newborn that requires immediate hospitalization after birth has a profound and often traumatizing impact on a family, with as many as 40% of parents in the NICU having significant health symptoms that can impact long-term mother-infant bonding and infant health. This is the first systematic review and meta-analysis to summarize the large literature on hospital-based interventions and may serve as a guide for hospital systems looking to support parents of babies in the NICU.
By the Numbers
- The analysis included 160 studies with 16,639 parents (93% mothers) across six intervention categories: bonding interventions, artistic therapies, psychotherapies, family-centered care, holistic interventions such as meditation, and spiritual interventions.
- Bonding interventions, family-centered care, and psychotherapies produced large decreases in parent anxiety (Hedges g scores between 0.9 and 1.66).
- Family-centered care, psychotherapies, and holistic interventions were all associated with strong effects on reducing parent stress.
- Artistic therapies and psychotherapies were associated with a significant reduction in parent depression.
The Other Side
The included studies had very little representation from fathers or families with diverse family structures or gender identities. Additionally, most of the included studies did not look at long-term outcomes beyond 6 months of age.
Takeaway Message
Psychotherapies—which included emotional support interventions—demonstrated large and consistent effect sizes across all three parental measures, highlighting the value of integrating mental health practitioners within neonatal settings. However, family-centered care, which encompasses less resource-intensive interventions such as providing families with webcam access to see their infant or allowing parent involvement in medical rounds, also produced strong outcomes—suggesting that these interventions should be a standard of care at NICUs to support families at a critical time.
Related Information
Source
Claire Niehouse Milligan, et.al. “Parent Mental Health Interventions in the NICU: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.” JAMA Pediatrics. Published July 6, 2026. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2026.2546.
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