Dads who spend time touching, talking to, and looking at their premature babies during feeding feel much less anxious after six months than dads who don’t.
Scientific Claim
A home-based integrated sensory stimulation program significantly reduces paternal trait anxiety and state anxiety in parents of preterm infants by six months, with effect sizes of -3.37 and -4.63 standard deviations respectively, indicating a stronger impact on fathers than previously documented in similar interventions.
Original Statement
“In the mixed linear model, the intervention was associated with reductions in paternal trait anxiety (d = -3.37; 95% CI: −5.62, −1.11) and state anxiety (d = -4.63; 95% CI: −7.00, −2.26).”
Evidence Quality Assessment
Claim Status
appropriately stated
Study Design Support
Design supports claim
Appropriate Language Strength
definitive
Can make definitive causal claims
Assessment Explanation
The RCT design and large effect sizes for paternal anxiety provide strong causal evidence. The claim is appropriately stated as the data show clear, significant reductions with no overstatement.
Evidence from Studies
Supporting (1)
Effects of home-based integrated sensory stimulation program to preterm infants on parents’ depression and anxiety: a randomized controlled trial
The study found that when parents did simple sensory activities with their preterm babies at home, dads’ anxiety dropped a lot by six months—exactly as the claim says.