infants and greater involvement in their care.
A common thread in fhe content oi several of the inteivention
studies that produced positive effeets on both the
parents and their children was an emphasis on assisting the
parents in learning about their infants" physical characteristics
and behavioral states as well as facilitating them to be
more confident and comfortable in caring for their infants,
including how to be sensitive in responding to their infants'
cues. However, there does not appear to be a consistent
relationship between number as well as length of the interventions
and positive iong-term outcomes. For example,
some of the more brief intervention programs that commenced
early in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU)
(Melnyk et al.. 2001; Zahr. Parker, & Cole. 1992) had similar
or more positive elfects following hospitalization than
some of the programs that implemented several frequent
interventions over time, starting shortly before or following
discharge from the MtCG and continuing throughout the first
year or two of life (Barrera, Rosenbaum. G Cunningham,
1986: McCarton etal.. 1997).