Children spending many hours playing with a PlayStation or an Xbox every day can lead to serious psychiatric problems in children, researchers found.  And “pathological” video game playing is not linked to preexisting psychiatric conditions.

A two-year prospective study of involving over 3,000 children determined several baseline psychological factors such as impulsivity that predicted excessive video game playing, according to Douglas Gentile, PhD, of Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa, and colleagues.

However,  mental health disorders including depression,  poor school performance, poor social relationships “seemed to act as outcomes of pathological gaming,” Gentile and co-authors wrote online in Pediatrics.

“Pathological gaming seems not to be simply secondary to other disorders but to predict poorer functioning longitudinally, and it can last for several years,” they added.

From 2007 to 2009, the researchers provided questionnaires to 3,034 elementary and middle-school children in Singapore, Indonesia.  The surveys were conducted in the students’ classrooms.  They were asked age-appropriate questions to obtain  information on their video game playing habits, social interactions, decision-making skills, mood , and other aspects of their mental health status as well as school performance.

Gentile and colleagues noted that response patterns indicated that causation could go in both directions for some factors.

“For example, although impulsivity is a risk factor for becoming a pathological gamer, impulsivity worsens after a youth becomes a pathological gamer,” they wrote.

Game-playing habits were considered abnormal when the young respondents checked off at least five of 10 items related to gaming on the questionnaire. The areas included the amount of time they spent playing video games, if their schoolwork suffered as a result of gaming, and whether they ever stole money to buy games.

The mean number of pathological gaming symptoms reported in the sample was 2.28 at baseline and 1.78 at the last follow-up.

Pathological gaming was diagnosed in almost 10% of the sample initially — predominantly boys, by a 3:1 margin — which fell to 7.6% in the subsequent surveys.

Gentile and colleagues found that gaming behavior that was initially pathological in 36 children subsequently improved such that they no longer had five or more symptoms. Almost the same number (35) of those with four or fewer symptoms at baseline later added enough to qualify as pathological gamers.

The researchers were particularly interested in the second group and analyzed their characteristics to determine if the characteristics at the beginning of the study and those at the end  to children whose playing never reached pathological levels.

Baseline characteristics that predicted onset of pathological gaming during the study period included the following:

• Impulsivity
• Social competence
• Emotional regulation
• Empathy score
• Weekly game-playing time: 31.12 hours versus 19.28 hours (P=0.005)

Gentile and colleagues also found that the more pathological gaming symptoms participants had at baseline, the more likely they were to show symptoms of depression, anxiety, social phobia, and lower school grades at the last follow-up — all with P values less than 0.001.

Increases in pathological gaming symptoms during the study also predicted anxiety, school performance, depression, and  social phobia, and school performance at the last follow-up, again with.

The relationships were especially strong for depression.

The researchers also noted the incidence of prevalence of pathological gaming in the Singapore sample was similar to what other researchers have reported in Western populations — about 9% — and the researchers could think of “no specific reason to assume the relationships between variables would be different in other countries.”

On the other hand, they conceded that reliance on data supplied by the children was a limitation. “The study … would have been improved by gathering information from additional sources, such as teachers and parents,” the researchers wrote.

Source:
Gentile D, et al “Pathological video game use among youths: a two-year longitudinal study” Pediatrics 2011; DOI:10.1542/peds.2010-1353.

Bullying once was limited to schools and playgrounds, now is unfortunately can be a 24 hour phenomena, due to the internet access and social media sites. Unfortunately children, especially teens are being bullied more than ever before, and access to computers and smart phones are the tools that are used to commit these harmful acts.

Cyberbullying occurs is when someone repeatedly harasses, mistreats, or makes fun of another person online or while using cell phones or other electronic devices.

The researchers defined cyberbullying as an aggressive, intentional and repeated use of mobile phones, computers and other electronic equipment to harass victims who cannot easily defend themselves.

A new research study conducted in Finland evaluated the impact cyberbullying has on teenage victims and perpetrators by computer or cell phone found both are more likely to report psychiatric symptoms.

Dr. Andre Sourander of Turku University in Finland and colleagues surveyed 2,438 Finnish seventh- and ninth-grade adolescents.  They evaluated the  completed  questionnaires and found six months prior to the survey, 4.8 percent of the participants were only victims of cyberbullying, 7.4 percent were cyberbullies only and 5.4 percent were both recipients and perpetrators of cyberbullying.

Other than being questioned about cyberbullying, they were also asked about substance use, traditional bullying behavior and psychosomatic symptoms, including headaches and abdominal pain.

The researchers discovered that victims of cyberbullying reported living in a house with one parent, perceived emotional, concentration and behavior difficulties; having trouble getting along with others; headaches and abdominal pain.

The researchers also found that cyberbullies themselves, reported emotional problems, concentration and behavior difficulties; trouble getting along with others, hyperactivity; conduct problems; infrequent helping behaviors, frequent smoking and drinking; headaches and not feeling safe in schools.

“The feeling of being unsafe is probably worse in cyberbullying compared with traditional bullying,” Dr. Andre Sourander of Turku University and co-authors wrote. “Traditional bullying typically occurs on school grounds, so victims are safe at least within their homes. With cyberbullying, victims are accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

“There is a need to create cyberenvironments and supervision that provide clear and consistent norms for healthy cyberbehavior. Clinicians working in child and adolescent health services should be aware that cyberbullying is potentially traumatizing,” stated Sourander.

“Policy makers, educators, parents, and adolescents themselves should be aware of the potentially harmful effects of cyberbullying. Future research is needed on whether antibullying policies, materials, interventions, and mobile telephone and internet user guidelines are effective for reducing cyberbullying,” Sourander said.

Cyberbullying Statistics in the United States are even higher. According to I-Safe America, approximately 20% of the students in our sample report experiencing cyberbullying in their lifetimes. When asked about specific types of cyberbullying in the previous 30 days, mean or hurtful comments (13.7%) and rumors spread (12.9%) online continue to be among the most commonly-cited.

Seventeen percent of the sample reported being cyberbullied in one or more of the nine types reported, two or more times over the course of the previous 30 days. In the 2003-04 school year, i-SAFE America surveyed students from across the country on a new topic: Cyber Bullying. It is a topic that not many adults were talking about. It turns out to be a topic all too familiar with students.

Bullying is no longer about the strong picking on the weak in the schoolyard. The physical assault has been replaced by a 24 hour per day, seven days a week online bashing. Savvy students are using Instant Messaging, e-mails, chat rooms and websites they create to humiliate a peer. No longer can parents count on seeing the tell-tale physical signs of bullying—a black eye, bloody lip, torn clothes. But the damage done by cyber bullies is no less real, and can be infinitely more painful.

Cyber Bullying Statistics

• 42% of kids have been bullied while online. 1 in 4 have had it happen more than once.
• 35% of kids have been threatened online. Nearly 1 in 5 have had it happen more than once.
• 21% of kids have received mean or threatening e-mail or other messages.
• 58% of kids admit someone has said mean or hurtful things to them online. More than 4 out of 10 say it has happened more than once.
• 53% of kids admit having said something mean or hurtful to another person online. More than 1 in 3 have done it more than once.
• 58% have not told their parents or an adult about something mean or hurtful that happened to them online.

Information Based on 2004 i-SAFE survey of 1,500 students grades 4-8

Cyber Bullying Tips

• Tell a trusted adult about the bullying, and keep telling until the adult takes action.
• Don’t open or read messages by cyber bullies.
• Tell your school if it is school related. Schools have a bullying solution in place.
• Don’t erase the messages—they may be needed to take action.
• Protect yourself—never agree to meet with the person or with anyone you meet online.
• If bullied through chat or instant messaging, the “bully” can often be blocked.
• If you are threatened with harm, inform the local police.

Sources:

Archives of General Psychiatry

http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/67/7/720

http://www.isafe.org/channels/sub.php?ch=op&sub_id=media_cyber_bullying

http://www.thenationalcampaign.org/sextech/PDF/SexTech_Summary.pdf

Boston University researchers have discovered a link between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder ADHD in children and common industrial chemicals. They found a high blood level of polyfluoroalkyl chemicals (PFCs) is associated with  increased  chance of developing ADHD.  This particular class of chemicals are frequently used in a wide variety of consumer products.

The research is published online, ahead of print, in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

The data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), an ongoing national survey of a representative sample of the U.S. population that gathers data on dietary and health factors conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, was utilized to compare the PFC levels found in serum samples taken from 571 children, ages 12 to 15.

In a 2003-2004 survey, NHANES examined 2,094 blood samples taken from the U.S. population and found more than 98 percent of the sample had detectable serum levels of PFCs, according to the study.

The parents of 48 of these children reported their children were diagnosed with attention deficit disorder ADD, one of the most common neurodevelopmental disorders in children.

PFCs are highly stable compounds used in industrial and commercial products like stain-resistance coatings, food packaging, and firefighting foams.

Once absorbed into the body, it can take years for some types of PFCs to be partially eliminated.

Although the study indicates there is a link between PFCs and ADHD, lead author Kate Hoffman, PhD, said it is not known if there is a causal relationship between the two.

“There’s a link between this exposure and outcome but we’re not really sure what way that goes,” said Hoffman, who conducted the study while completing her doctorate in environmental health at BUSPH.

“What we can say is children with this outcome tend to have higher levels of PFCs in their blood.”

Because the PFC measurements were collected at the same time as the parental report of ADHD diagnosis, Hoffman said it is unknown whether children with ADHD engage in behavior leading to increased PFC exposure or if higher serum PFC levels in children result in ADHD.

The researchers examined the connection between four PFCs: perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS), perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorononanoic acid (PFNA), and perfluorohexane sulfonic acid (PFHxS) and samples from children in which there were parental reports of ADHD diagnosis.

The authors focused on ADHD because studies on animals have suggested exposure to PFCs can have neurotoxic effects. There is little information, however, on the chemicals’ effects on human development.

ADHD is one of the most common brain disorders, Dr. Hoffman said. It is also unknown what causes ADHD, she said, other environmental factors are associated with the disorder.

“Given the extremely prevalent exposure to PFCs, further investigation into the impact of PFC exposure on ADHD and other neurodevelopmental endpoints is warranted,” the authors wrote.

The study was funded in part by the Boston University Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Environmental Exposures and Health and by a grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEHS), National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Source: 

http://sph.bu.edu/index.php?option=com_insidernews&articleid=3010&task=view&id=623&Itemid=366

Two recent studies have determined the detrimental impact child abuse has on adult disease susceptibility and development, particularly those with pain.

The first study sought to determine if “alleged” childhood abuse causes any changes in the  release of daily cortisol, as major stress hormone in women experiencing chronic pain, either fibromyalgia or osteoarthritis.

Women with fibromyalgia or with osteoarthritis only (completed diaries and collected three saliva samples daily for 30 days, with compliance monitored electronically. Childhood abuse and neglect were assessed by self-report using the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-short form. Analysis determined an association between abuse and cortisol levels, that were confirmed beyond other significant factors including depression,  posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and daily experience variables.

The results determined that the women who’d experienced the most severe child abuse had higher cortisol levels throughout the entire day. 

Although different forms of maltreatment were interrelated, emotional and sexual abuse were most closely linked to cortisol levels. Fibromyalgia and osteoarthritis groups showed similar patterns of hormone release, and maltreatment was associated with elevated cortisol in both. Although maltreatment was also linked to  depression and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder,  these factors had no impact on the link between abuse and cortisol.

In women with chronic pain, self-reported childhood maltreatment was associated with higher diurnal cortisol levels. These results add to the evidence that abuse in childhood can induce long-term changes in brain, in particular, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenocortical activity (an area linked with our response to stress). They also acknowledge the importance of evaluating childhood abuse history in fibromyalgia and other chronic pain conditions.

The second study sought to determine a link between migraine headaches and childhood abuse. To evaluate in a headache clinic population the relationship of childhood maltreatment on the prevalence of pain conditions comorbid with migraine. BACKGROUND: Childhood maltreatment is highly prevalent and has been frequently associated with recurrent headache. The relationship of maltreatment and pain has, however, been a subject of some debate.

Data was collected and reviewed from people  with migraine, seeking treatment in headache clinics at 11 centers located in Canada and the United States. These included irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), fibromyalgia (FM), interstitial cystitis (IC), arthritis, endometriosis, and uterine fibroids. Other information included demographics, migraine characteristics (frequency, headache-related disability), remote and current depression, and remote and current anxiety. Patients also completed the a Childhood Trauma Questionnaire regarding sexual, emotional, and physical abuse, and emotional and physical neglect under the age of 18 years old.

Over 1300 people with migraine headaches, 88% women, 12% men were included in this study, with an average of 41 years. Based on physician diagnosis or validated criteria, 31% had IBS, 16% had CFS, and 10% had FM. Diagnosis of IC was reported by 6.5%, arthritis by 25%, and in women, endometriosis was reported by 15% and uterine fibroids by 14%.

At least one pain condition was reported by 61%, 2 conditions by 18%, and 3 or more by 13%. Childhood abuse was acknowledged by 58% of the patients.

Emotional abuse was associated with increased prevalence of IBS, CFS, arthritis, and physical neglect with arthritis. In women, physical abuse was associated with endometriosis and physical neglect with uterine fibroids.

Emotional abuse, and physical abuse and neglect were also associated with increased total number of other conditions. Adjustments for sociodemographics and current depression that was present in  28% of the participants,  and anxiety in  56%,  determined emotional abuse  and physical neglect were independently associated with an increased number of pain conditions. A comparison group of women, similarly, also had associations of emotional abuse and physical neglect with an increased incidence of pain.

The researchers determined that the relationship between childhood abuse and pain was significantly greater in those reporting multiple pain conditions and multiple maltreatment types. This finding suggests that in people experiencing migraine headaches, childhood abuse  may be a risk factor for development of  pain disorders.

Source:

Headache. 2010 Jan;50(1):42-51. Epub 2009 Oct 21.

http://www.psychosomaticmedicine.org/cgi/content/abstract/PSY.0b013e3181d9a104v1

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19845780

Children with exposure to significant amounts of organophosphate pesticides have an increased risk of developing Attention-deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to a study conducted at the University of Montreal and Report in the June, 2010 issue of Pediatrics.

According to Dr. Maryse Bouchard, the lead researcher, a ten-fold increase in the concentration of the most common metabolites of the pesticide was associated with a 1.55 increase in the likelihood of having ADHD.

This finding was independent of age, ethnicity, economic level, gender, fasting or kidney function.

They researchers wrote,” These findings support the hypothesis that organophosphate exposure, at levels common among U.S. children, may contribute to ADHD prevalence.”

This particular class of pesticide is known to interfere with brain function by altering the functioning of acetylcholine, a key chemical involved with thinking and cognition.

Also, previously animal studies have found a link between exposure to organophosphates and hyperactivity.

Humans are exposed to pesticides through our drinking water, food and home use.  The primary sources for infants and children is through the diet, as vegetables and fruits contain pesticide residue.

Because their developing brain is more vulnerable, and their smaller size, the doses per boy weight exposure are higher in children compared to adults.

The researchers reviewed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2000 to 2004.  They analyzed 1,139 children from the ages of 8 to 15 who were representative of the general population.

There were 119 children with the accepted criteria diagnosis of ADHD, based on a telephone parent interview.  Twenty nine additional children were taking ADHD medications, but did not meet the diagnostic criteria.

Their urine was evaluated for the organophosphate metabolites.  A 10 fold increase was associated with greater odds of meeting the ADHD diagnostic criteria. 

And the children with the highest levels of the metabolite had nearly a two fold increase of having ADHD compared with children without detectable levels of the metabolites.

Source:

Pediatrics-Bouchard M, et al “Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and urinary metabolites of organophosphate pesticides” Pediatrics 2010: DOI 10. 1542/peds.2009-3058

Children experiencing emotional neglect or abuse can develop brain changes.

MRI evaluation found that childhood stress can lead to the development of depression. The study led by scientists at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland was recently published in the scientific journal, Neuropsychopharmacology.

The researchers noted, “Improved neurobiological understanding shows how stress and genetic variants interact and affect brain structure and function.  In turn it demonstrates how it could affect a person’s propensity for depression.  The structural alterations of the brain are associated with a higher vulnerability to depression and a more chronic course of the depression might be associated with further structural changes.

“Early intervention in the case of major depression is necessary to increase the change of a good disease outcome. Fortunately depression can be treated very well by psychotherapy and anti-depressant medication.  Moreover, prevention strategies for childhood neglect and misuses are highly important to increase public health and to avoid in later life for these individuals, the burden of major depression.”

The study was conducted on a total of 24 patients (aged 18-65) being treated as inpatients for major depression.  They were investigated with high-resolution structural MRI and childhood stress assessments.  Special analysis programs were used to measure brain regions. 

These patients were compared with 27 healthy control subjects from the local community who were matched for age and gender.  Further research is needed in a larger number of patients and controls to identify the underlying causes of depression and stress-gene interaction on brain structure as well as function.

Source: 

http://www.medindia.net/news/Childhood-Stress-May-Lead-to-Brain-Damage-65641-1.htm

I’ve always suspected that violent video games were unhealthy to the mental health and well-being of children playing them.

New research in the field of video games investigated how violent games affect the emotional behavior of children and how it impacts their response to life events. 

Playing video games that are violent, for as little as 20 minutes, promotes desensitization to real world violence, on a physiologic level.

“We found that the subjects who played violent video games for 20 minutes had lower physiologic responses when they watched videos of real-life violence,” said Nicholas Carnagey, who conducted the research while a psychology instructor at Iowa State University in Ames.

The study found that over exposure to violence tended to cause the children to become numb and insensitive to acts of violence.  Iowa State University researchers warned that it is not important the amount of time the child spends playing the violent games. 

He explained that these lowered physical responses meant the person felt less emotional upset when viewing real-life brutality.

Prior studies have reported a correlation between exposure to violent video games and desensitization to real violence. But Carnagey’s team says theirs is the first to expose subjects to video games and then measure their physiologic reactions to real-life violence through heart rate and galvanic skin response, which evaluates perspiration.

As heart rate and perspiration increase, so does emotional arousal, said Carnagey, currently a professor at Wake Forest University.

Released in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, the study involved  257 college students (133 women, 124 men and 133) that were evaluated prior to and after playing either non-violent or violent video games for 20 minutes.  The violent games included Mortal Kombat, Future Cop, Carmageddon, and Duke Nukem.  The non-violent games selection of games included 3D Pinball, 3D Munch Man, Glider Plus and Tetra Madness.

The participants had similar heart rates and other signs of arousal before exposure to real-life violence, which included videotaped shootings, prison fights and police confrontations.

The people who played violent video games for 20 minutes had lower galvanic skin responses (lower perspiration) and heart rates while watching the real-life footage. “A lot of other studies on exposure to violent video games indicated that we would find this [desensitization], but it surprised us that only 20 minutes of exposure was enough to show this effect,” Carnagey said.

“It appears that individuals who play violent video games…get used to all the violence and eventually become physiologically numb to it. The modern entertainment media landscape could accurately be described as an effective systematic violence desensitization tool.

“The only time we saw physiologic differences among participants was while they were watching real-life violence.”  Their findings, “demonstrate that violent video game exposure can cause desensitization to real-life violence. Children receive high doses of media violence.  It is initially packaged in ways that are not too threatening, with cute cartoon-like characters.  However, older children consume increasingly threatening and realistic violence, but the increases are gradual and always in a way that is fun.”

Translated to the real world, these signs of lower emotional upset may mean a person is more desensitized to violence. He or she may also be less able to identify violence and less likely to help victims of violence, Carnagey explained.

These findings raise a red flag for parents.

Even though the study targeted college students, “there’s no doubt that these results apply to younger children, and there’s every reason to be concerned that the effects be may even greater in those under the age of 7 because these children don’t distinguish very well between fantasy and reality,” said pediatrician Dimitri A. Christakis, director of the Child Health Institute at the University of Washington, Seattle, and author of the book The Elephant in the Living Room: Make TV Work for Your Kids.

The caution for parents is real, Christakis said. “Children are much more media-savvy at a much younger age than their parents were,” he noted.

Many parents believe that violent games won’t make their children more violent, but they might not be witnessing any increase in aggressive behaviors first-hand, he noted. The negative effects of video game exposure often infiltrate children’s real-life games, Christakis said. “This increasing violence is mutually enhancing in a negative way,” he warned, because “it reinforces violence in their own lives.”

Much of the media children watch is laden with violence, Carnagey added. In G-rated movies and games, violence is often packaged in a “cute and friendly manner,” the researcher noted.

And “as children grow older, they’re exposed to ever more realistic and gory scenes,” he said. “Parents might say, ‘My child is not ready to see that yet,’ but what does that comment mean? When would children be ready to see someone beheaded?”

This unintended desensitization from exposure to very violent media can have a real impact on children’s development, according to the researchers.

“In real life, were not talking about a simple 20-minute exposure, were talking about exposure that’s hours on end, day after day,” Carnagey said. “Parents should be aware and active in their child’s exposure to media. They should really think about what messages they’re exposing their children to.”

The study also raises some important questions for future research, including whether the effects of short-term exposure to violent games lingers, and what the cumulative effect might be of playing violent video games over days, weeks, and years.

Source:  http://www.public.iastate.edu/~nscentral/news/2006/jul/desensitized.shtml

Children with asthma, hypnosis can help to reduce symptoms including habit coughing, unexplained sensations of breathing difficulty and reducing a child’s discomfort during medical procedures.

Ran D. Anbar, MD, Professor of Pediatrics at SUNY Upstate Medical University, in Syracuse, NY, recommends hypnosis as a treatment option when a child’s respiratory symptoms appear to have a psychological component.

In his paper, “Adding Hypnosis to the Therapeutic Toolbox of Pediatric Respiratory Care,” Dr. Anbar points to symptoms such as difficulty taking a breath, a disruptive cough, hyperventilation, noise on inspiration such as a gasp or squeak, and difficulty swallowing despite normal lung function as possible indications for the use of hypnosis to supplement medical therapy. Symptoms that are absent during sleep, can be associated with a particular activity or location, or are linked to or triggered by an emotional response may be particularly responsive to hypnosis.

Hypnosis can be used as a compliment to standard medical treatment  and its ability to use the mind-body connection to bring about physiological changes are explored in a provocative paper in Pediatric Asthma, Allergy & Immunology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The paper is available free online.

This data substantiates the benefit of hypnosis in children with respiratory disorders with a significant mind-body component such as vocal cord dysfunction and habit cough. Hypnosis can also help lessen sensations of difficulty breathing and anxiety in other respiratory diseases such as cystic fibrosis and asthma. It is also an essential tool for relieving a child’s distress and anxiety and assisting them to control their response to discomfort.

He warns that the therapy shouldn’t be used by health care providers with appropriate training in the technique.

Harold Farber, MD, editor of the journal and Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston wrote,” Dr. Anbar has added hypnosis to our therapeutic toolbox. When breathing problems have a large mind-body component, resolution with hypnosis can dramatically reduce the need for expensive testing and medications.”

Source: http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/pai.2009.0025?cookieSet=1

Premature babies are exposed to numerous stresses in intensive care nurseries, including loud noises, bright lights, blood drawing, and invasive procedures.  Stress can have negative effect on these babies’ immune systems.  Massage therapy can be beneficial because it lowers stress and improves their immune system. 

Massage has been used in premature and low birth weight babies to promote growth and development. Before birth, babies are exposed to physical stimulation. 

Also, premature and low birth weight babies are often placed in incubators, open beds, attached to numerous monitors that interfere with them being touch as often as full term babies. 

The Touch Research Institute has conducted numerous studies that revealed the benefits associated with infant massages.  It stimulates the immune system, and increases the baby’s resistance to infect.  Also massaged babies gain weight faster,

It also stimulates an increase in oxytocin levels, a hormone that has pain relieving properties, and a calming effect.

A review of medical research studies found 14 randomized massage studies involving premature and/or low birth weight babies.

The review included studies in which a group of babies did not receive massage and were used in comparison to those who did.  In most of these studies babies were rubbed or stroked for about 15 minutes, three or four times a day, usually for five or ten days.  The studies found that when compared to babies who were not touched, babies receiving massage, gained more weight each day (about 5 grams). They spent less time in hospital, had slightly better scores on developmental tests and had slightly fewer postnatal complications, although there were problems with how reliable these findings are. The studies did not show any negative effects of massage. Massage is time consuming for nurses to provide, but parents can perform massage without extensive training.

Benefits for Babies:

• Improves weight gain

• Helps the baby to become more organized

• Allows the baby to be more alert, so he can interact with you and others

• Helps start oral feeding earlier (rather than tube feeding)

• Promotes healthier bones

• Supports parent-infant interaction
• Facilitates weight gain in preterm infants¹
• Lowers levels of cortisol, the stress hormone
• Increases muscle tone
• Improves sleep and awake patterns
• Shortens lengths of stay in hospitals
• Improves cognitive and motor development at eight months of age
• Infant massage is an inexpensive tool
• Can be used as part of the developmental care plan of preterm infants

Benefits for Parents and Caregivers

• Provides all of the essential elements of intimate parent-infant bonding and attachment: eye-to-eye, touch, voice, smell, movement, and thermal regulation.
• Encourages pre-verbal communication between caregiver and infant
• Helps parents feel more confident and competent in caring for their children
• Helps parents to ease their stress if they are a working parent and must be separated from their children for extended periods during the day
• Provides parents with one-on-one quiet time or interactive play with their children
• Creates a regular time of intimacy between parent and child.
• Increases parents’ self-esteem by reinforcing and enhancing their skills as parents, and validates their role
• Gives parents the tools for understanding their child’s unique rhythms and patterns
• Teaches parents how to read their infants’ cues and recognize their states of awareness
• Gives parents a special way to interact with their children who may be hospitalized. Helps parents feel a greater part of the healing process
• Daily massage helps parents to unwind and relax
• Provides a positive way for fathers to interact with their infants/children

Sources:

Massage for promoting growth and development of preterm and/or low birth-weight infants

www.bliss.org.uk/core/core_picker/download.asp?id=4

Vickers A, Ohlsson A, Lacy J, Horsley A

http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab000390.html

http://www.lovingtouch.com/infant-massage-nicu

A study conducted at the University of Miami’s Touch Research Institute involving 17  aggressive adolescents were randomly assigned to a massage therapy group or a relaxation therapy group to receive 20-minute therapy sessions, twice a week for five weeks.  The massaged adolescents had lower anxiety after the first and last sessions. By the end of the study, they also reported feeling less hostile and they were perceived by their parents as being less aggressive. Significant differences were not found for the adolescents who were assigned to the relaxation group.

The Touch Research Institute was formally established in 1992 by Director Tiffany Field, Ph.D. at the University Of Miami School Of Medicine via a start-up grant from Johnson & Johnson.

The TRI was the first center in the world devoted solely to the study of touch and its application in science and medicine. The TRI researchers located at universities across the nation seek to better define touch as it promotes health and contributes to the treatment of disease. Research efforts that began in 1982 and continue today have shown that touch therapy has numerous beneficial effects on health and well-being.

Sources:

Diego, M.A., Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Shaw, J.A., Rothe, E.M., Castellanos, D. & Mesner, L. (2002). Aggressive adolescents benefit from massage therapy. Adolescence, 37, 597-607.

http://www6.miami.edu/touch-research/Massage.html