The Effect on Father-Infant Interaction of Demonstrating the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale

Abstract

Forty-four first-time fathers who had attended prenatal classes and were present during labor and delivery of their healthy infants were divided randomly into an experimental group of 22 who observed the Brazelton neonatal behavioral assessment scale performed on their 2- to 3-day-old infants, or into a control group of 22 who did not receive this intervention. Paternal involvement in, and attitudes toward, infant caretaking and ratings of infant difficultness were compared in the two groups. Father-infant interaction was measured by two-minute videotape analysis at eight weeks postpartum. Paternal attitudes, caretaking activities, and perceptions of their infants were measured by questionnaire self-reports. There were significant differences in the quality, but not quantity, of father-infant interactions, and in one of four measures of infant difficultness (unpredictability) between the two groups.