These
same very preterm infants responded differently to
being touched by demonstrating more body movement.
In addition, the combination of talking and
touching produced responses similar to touching
alone, more body movement. Infants with higher
severity of illness scores showed more avoidance behaviors during all stimulus conditions and the
most avoidance during the combination of talking
and touching, suggesting that stimulation can be
aversive in these vulnerable infants. Interestingly,
there was no significant change in infant heart rate
for any stimulus condition.