The Effect of Infant Directed Lullaby on Maternal Attachment and Parenting Stress

Author

Casie Esposito, University of the PacificFollow

Date of Award

2018

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Department

Music Therapy

First Advisor

Eric G. Waldon

First Committee Member

Feilin Hsiao

Second Committee Member

Rachelle Kisst Hackett

Abstract

In this modified single-subject design study, the researcher sought to find whether eight parents who were taught to use lullaby evidenced a change in attachment and parenting stress regarding their infant’s hospitalization and into transition to home. Using repeated measures over a period of approximately two months, each parent was asked to use infant directed lullaby with their infants and keep track of its use with a calendar. The Maternal Attachment Inventory and the Parenting Stress Index provided measurement of self-reported attachment and stress. An adapted intervention rating profile was used to determine the parent’s perceived acceptance of infant directed lullaby.

Understanding possible connections between attachment and parenting stress with music, and as a music therapy intervention, is important for both researchers and clinicians in the field of music therapy. Teaching parents to use a simple and cost effective tool may provide families with more access to interventions similar to infant directed lullaby as well as provide support for families and their infants. Despite this study’s inconclusive findings, a new door for research in this settings has been opened regarding parent training and its effectiveness, which is important in that a therapist is not always able to be present to provide treatment particularly in the NICU setting and after they have been discharged home.

Pages

86

Recommended Citation

Esposito, Casie. (2018). The Effect of Infant Directed Lullaby on Maternal Attachment and Parenting Stress. University of the Pacific, Thesis. https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/uop_etds/3544