Professional Documents
Culture Documents
8, 1331-1339
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to test the effects of infant massage (auditory (mothers voice), tactile/
kinesthetic (massage) and visual (eye to eye contact) stimulation) on weight and height of infant and moth-
er-infant interaction with normal infants over a period of 4 weeks.
Method. This study was designed as a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design. The experimental
group infants (aged 2-6 months) participated in one of the infant massage programs at the health district cen-
ter for 4 weeks. The control group (N=26) was paired with the experimental group (N=26) by matching the
infants age and sex. Infant weight, height, and mother-infant interaction were measured two times and
recordings of the mother-infant interaction were done using the video equipment in a room at the health
center for 10 minutes.
Results. After 4 weeks of massage, there were no significant differences weight gain and height increase between
the two groups. Comparison of the total scores for the mother-infant interaction between the two groups
showed a significant difference (t=5.21, p=.000). There were also significant differences on maternal
response (t=3.78, p=000), infant response (t=5.71, p=000) and dyadic response (t=4.05, p=000) in the
mother-infant interaction between the two groups.
Conclusion. Overall, the results of this study reassure that infant massage facilitates the mother-infant interac-
tion for infants and mothers who give massage to their baby.
Key Words : infant massage, mother-infant interaction
skin are also stimulated. As a result, nutrients are infant play interaction. The mother-infant play interac-
brought to the tissues and waste products are removed tion (Mother-Infant Play Interaction Scale, MIPIS,
(Field, 2002). Walker & Thompson, 1982) for the mothers who gave
Kim, Shin, and White-Traut (2003) investigated the their infant a massage was more active than the other
physiological effects of the massage therapy in 58 insti- mothers who did not. Each subscale showed significant
tuted infants. For the experimental group, the massage differences on mother responses, infant responses and
protocol (developed by Field, Grizzle, Scafidi, Abrams, dyadic behavioral responses. Glover, Onozawa, and
& Richardson, 1996) was applied twice a day, mid- Hodgkinson (2002) also studied the mother-infant inter-
morning and early evening, for 4 weeks by the re- action effects of infant massage on healthy infants. The
searcher and the trained research assistants. Infants as- mother-infant interaction for the control group remained
signed to the experimental group gained more weight, the same during the period of the trial. However, it was
height, and head circumference than the infants in the improved greatly for the massage group. The result con-
control group. The results from others studies on the firmed with the study of Onozawa, Glover, Adams,
physiological variables with healthy babies showed that Modi, and Kumar (2001) that infant massage improved
massage improved weight (Field et al., 2004; Kim, 1999) the mother-infant relationship. Clarke, Gibb, Hart, and
and height (Field et al., 2004) as compared to infants Davidson (2002) described that infant massage gives the
without massage. Blood flow velocity in the femoral opportunity for a closer mother-infant relationship, en-
artery (Agarwal et al., 2000) and sleep (Agarwal et al., abling the mother to know her baby in greater detail,
2000) immediately followed by massage were improved and enhancing her responsiveness to her baby. Mothers
for the massage group compared to the control group. reported infant massage help specific problems that their
Ferber, Laudon, Kunt, Weller, and Zisapel (2002) report- infant had, for example, colic and poor sleep. Mothers
ed the possibility of using the massage therapy to en- also felt they were communicating better with their in-
hance the adjustment of the infants developing circadi- fant and understood their infants needs much better,
an system to the night phase in full-term infants. showing positive benefits for the use of infant massage
The early mother-infant relationship which is recog- (Clarke et al., 2002).
nized to be significant for the infants psychological Although much research on the effects of infant mas-
growth and effective interaction influences later cogni- sage has been done with premature babies (Bond, 2002;
tive, emotional, and social development of the infant Field, 2002; Mainous, 2002), very little study has been
(Bowlby, 1969). The major consequence of mother-in- conducted on infant massage with healthy infants in
fant interaction is that mothers and infants influence Korea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ef-
each other so that both are changed for mutual modifi- fects of massage therapy (auditory (mothers voice), tac-
cation (Leitch, 1999). Touch enhances ones general pos- tile/kinesthetic (massage) and visual (eye to eye contact)
itive feelings and mood and increases attention arousal, stimulation) on weight gain, height increase and mater-
which subsequently influences ones evaluation of the nal-infant interaction with healthy infants.
external stimuli surrounding the touch situation.
Therefore, proper maternal touch including the massage Hypothesis
therapy will produce overall positive feelings toward the 1. The infants in the experimental group who received
mother and the environment (Bond, 2002; Field, 2002; massage for 4 weeks had a more weight gain than those
Jeon, 2003; White-Traut, 2004). in the control group who did not.
Choi and Kim (2002) studied the effect of infant mas- 2. The infants in the experimental group who received
sage on the mother-infant interaction with 49 healthy in- massage for 4 weeks had a more height increase than
fants. Twenty five mothers of the experimental infants those in the control group who did not.
gave infant massage (developed by Field et al, 1996) 10 3. The infants in the experimental group who received
to 20 days after delivery when the mothers stayed at the massage for 4 weeks had a better mother-infant interac-
Sanhujoriwon (a kind of postpartum care center). In the tion than those in the control group who did not.
post-test, the researcher videotaped both the control
group and the experimental group while visiting their
homes for 4 weeks after delivery to observe the mother-
Lee. Infant Massage on Mother-Infant Interaction 1333
distress (Burns, Cunningham, White-Traut, Silvestri, & Mothers Perception of Infant Temperament
Nelson, 1993). Massage is the best when the infant is in Temperament is defined as the individuals emotional
a quiet alert state. Engagement cues include bright-eyed reactivity or behavioral style in interacting with the en-
focused expression, still/calm attentiveness, and clarifica- vironment. The Mothers Perception of Infant
tion for starting a massage with soft voice. Throughout Temperament Scale was modified from the Infant
the massage period, the mother tried to engage the eye- Temperament Questionnaire (Carey & McDevitt, 1978).
to-eye contact and talk with her infant. If the infant indi- This scale has 13 statements that the mother rates re-
cated that he or she was not good mood, the massage garding physiological requirements, such as nourishment
was discontinued or (and) the next procedure of the and adequate body temperature, and contact require-
massage was attempted. ments, such as physical closeness and manipulation. To
The instructor demonstrated the massage strokes on a complete the scale, the mother reported her perception
doll, while the mother worked with her own infant. The on each item as almost never, sometimes, usually, almost
massage began with slow rhythmic strokes, as the moth- always characteristic of her baby. The items were rated
ers speed and timing were guided by the infants body from often to never with weightings of 1 to 4 such that 4
signals. The mother placed a small amount of oil on the always represented a more positive situation (higher at-
palms of her warm hands and worked over each part of tachment). The Cronbach alpha reliability was .80.
the infants body according to the massage protocol
(Field et al., 1996). Each massage consisted of 5 minutes Mother- Infant Interaction
of tactile stimulation, followed by 5 minutes of kines- Recordings of the mother-infant interaction were done
thetic stimulation, and concluded with another 5-minute using the video equipment in a room at the health cen-
period of tactile stimulation. The first tactile stimulation ter. The mother-infant interaction was recorded for 10
consisted of placing the infant in a supine position and min. The mother was asked to simply play with her in-
five one-minute intervals, consisting of six 10-second pe- fant as she would at home. The MIPIS (Walker &
riods of stroking, were applied to the following body re- Thompson, 1982) was used to measure the quality of
gions: legs/feet, arms, chest, abdomen, and face. For the mother-infant interaction. The scale consisted of 15
kinesthetic stimulation, the infant was placed in a supine items with a 5-point scale (a higher rating being opti-
position. Each of the five one-minute segments consisted mal), related to maternal, infant and dyadic behaviors
of six passive flexion/extension movements lasting ap- that are independently scored. Infant subscales of the
proximately 10 seconds each. These movements oc- MIPIS were comprised of 3 items: expressed affect, re-
curred in the following sequence: right arm, left arm, sponse and visual interaction. Maternal subscales were
right leg, left leg, and both legs simultaneously. During organized into 10 items: holding style, expression of af-
the last tactile stimulation, the infant was placed prone fect, care giving style, visual interaction, style of play in-
and five one-minute intervals, consisting of six 10- sec- teraction, vocalization styles (tone, content, and quanti-
ond periods of stroking, were applied to the following ty of contingency), attempts at smile elicitation and
body regions: head, neck, back, both legs, and both kinesthetic quality of interaction. Dyadic behavioral sub-
arms simultaneously. scales included 2 items: dyadic quality of interaction and
synchrony of affect. A score for each subscale was ob-
Variables tained by averaging the total scores of each subscale.
Weight and Height Videotapes of the mother-infant interaction were ana-
Infant weight was measured using the Cas electronic lyzed and scored by a rater who was blind to the group
scale (Cas Korea Co. Model Ad-T) prior to the beginning membership. To ensure inter-rater reliability of the cod-
of the massage program (baseline), after 4 weeks when ing on MIPIS, the rater was first trained to a criterion of
the massage class ended at the health center. Infant 90% reliability prior to evaluating mother-infant interac-
height was measured using a height scale (Munhwa Co.). tion. To maintain higher than 90% inter-rater reliability
To ensure reliability of the measures, a research assis- on the scoring of the MIPIS between the investigator
tant was trained by the investigator to collect infant and the rater, inter-rater reliability was calculated every
weight and height. Height data were collected in tripli- 15 tapes. Internal consistency with coefficient alphas for
cate at each time, and then averaged. this study ranged from 0.83 to 0.92.
Lee. Infant Massage on Mother-Infant Interaction 1335
Data Analysis differences between the two groups for the infants
A minimal sample size of 25 per group was needed to weight, height, sleeping hours per day, temperament,
show a significant effect of massage with the power of birth order, methods of feeding, and hospitalization
80% power in detecting group differences of 1 standard when the study started. Because mothers job could in-
deviation at the .05 levels (Cohen, 1988). These calcula- fluence the mother-infant interaction (Leitch, 1999), the
tions were based on the large effect size (f=.80) found researcher attempted to match the groups based on it.
from the pilot study (Hwang, 2003). However, more mothers in the control group had a job
Independent t-tests and Chi-square analyses conduct- than those in the massage group (2=8.09, p=.01) (Table
ed to determine whether the demographic characteristics 1).
of the two groups were equivalent prior to initiation of
the massage. The independent t-tests were done to com- Weight and Height
pare weight gain, height increase, and the mother-infant The mean weight gain and height increase for the ex-
interaction for the two groups. perimental group and the control group are shown in
Table 2. The initial average weight was 7.08 kg (SD
RESULTS =1.44) for the experimental group and 6.94 kg (SD
=1.46) for the control group. After 4 weeks of massage,
Characteristics of the subjects there were 7.96 kg (SD =1.44) for the experimental
Characteristics of the infants and the mothers are de- group and 7.67 kg (SD =1.31) for the control group.
scribed in Table 1. There were 10 male infants (4 at 2 There was, however, no statistically significant difference
months, 2 at 4 months, 1 at 5 months, and 3 at 6 weight gain between the two groups. The initial average
months) and 16 female infants (3 at 2 months, 3 at 3 height was 64.14 cm (SD =5.54) for the experimental
months, 4 at 4 months, 3 at 5 months, and 3 at 6 group and 63.93 cm (SD=4.95) for the control group.
months) in the experimental group. There were also 10 The height increase was 66.92 cm (SD =5.61) for the ex-
male infants (4 at 2 months, 2 at 4 months, 1 at 5 perimental group and 65.99 cm (SD =4.65) for the con-
months, and 3 at 6 months) and 16 female infants (3 at 2 trol group after 4 weeks. A statistically significant differ-
months, 3 at 3 months, 4 at 4 months, 3 at 5 months, ence for height increase was not identified between the
and 3 at 6 months) in the control group. The age and sex two groups.
of the two groups are same because of attempting to
match the groups on age and sex. The homogeneity of Mother-Infant Interaction
the massage and control groups was tested with t- test The initial total scores for the mother-infant interaction
and chi-square test. There were no statistically significant were 64.27 (SD =3.24) for the experimental group and
62.07 (SD =2.31) for the control group, as shown in showed significant differences between the two groups.
Table 3. The initial scores of the maternal subscale, in- Also, there were significant differences for all items of
fant subscale, dyadic subscale and total scores for the the dyadic response. The scores for over-all dyadic quali-
mother-infant interaction did not show significant differ- ty interaction in the dyadic response were 4.35 (SD=
ences between the two groups. The total scores for the .49) for the experimental group and 3.96 (SD = .19) for
mother-infant interaction in the experimental group in- the control group. The score (M=4.76, SD = .43) for
creased from 64.27 to 70.50. Comparison of the total synchrony of affect in the experimental group was sig-
scores of the mother-infant interaction between the two nificantly higher than the score (M=4.07, SD= .48) of
groups showed a significant difference (t=5.21, p=.000). the control group in the dyadic response.
There were also significant differences for the maternal
response (t=3.78, p=000), infant response (t=5.71, DISCUSSION
p=000) and dyadic response (t=4.05, p=000) in the total
mother-infant interaction between the two groups. Although a number of massage therapy studies on pre-
To compare the specific trend of each response, each mature infants have been conducted, there is a dearth of
of the 3 responses was analyzed. There were significant research on the effects of massage therapy with normal
differences on the 8 items of the mothers response ex- infants in Korea. The rationale of this study was that the
cept holding type and care giving style. All items in massage therapy might be one of effective methods on
the infant response such as predominant response level, promoting infants growth and mother-infant interaction.
predominant mood/affect and visual interaction The purpose of this study was to test the effects of mas-
Table 2. Changes in Infants Weight and Height between the Two Groups
Experimental (N=26) Control (N=26)
t (p)
M SD M SD
Weight Pre-test 7.08 1.44 6.94 1.46 .34 (.73)
Post-test 7.96 1.44 7.67 1.31
Differences between post-and pre-test .88 .46 .73 .40 1.25 (.22)
Height Pre-test 64.14 5.54 63.93 4.95 0.75 (.89)
Post-test 66.92 5.61 65.99 4.65
Differences between post-and pre-test 2.78 1.79 2.07 1.48 1.57 (.12)
sage therapy by comparing the experimental group and the mothers in the experimental group appropriately al-
the control group over a period of 4 weeks. leviated infants distress and promoted more growth fos-
The total scores for the mother-infant interaction in the tering behaviors than the mothers in the control group
experimental group significantly increased from 64.27 to did. The mothers who participated in the experimental
70.50 after giving infant massage for 4 weeks, whose group in this study also reported that they themselves
comparison of the total scores between the two groups had benefited, for example, by feeling closer to their
showed a significant difference (t=5.21, p= .000). There infant and less stressed.
were also significant differences on the maternal re- The experimental group was significantly higher than
sponse (t=3.78, p= .000), infant response (t=5.71, p= the control group on the all 3 items of the infant re-
.000) and dyadic response (t=4.05, p= .000) for the total sponse and the all 2 items of the dyadic response in this
mother-infant interaction between the two groups. These study. However, only 2 items, predominant mood/affect
results are consistent with the recent reports of Choi and and over-all dyadic quality interaction for the experi-
Kim (2002), Glover et al. (2002), Hwang, (2003) and mental group were significantly higher than the control
Onozawa et al. (2001) and confirm that infant massage group in the results of Choi and Kim (2002). These dis-
improves the mother-infant relationship. Choi and Kim crepancies were due to that the ages of the samples var-
(2002) studied the effect of infant massage on primi- ied. Bang (1991) reported that there was a significant in-
paras mother-infant interaction with 49 healthy infants. crease in the mother-infant interaction with the increase
They used the same scale (MIPIS) to test the mother-in- of the infants age. The infants ages in the present study
fant interaction as did in this study. On each item for the were from 2 to 6 months and the ones in Choi and Kim
mother response, 9 items showed a significant difference (2002) were from 10 days to 4 weeks after delivery.
except style of play. They interpreted this result that in- Because the age of the infants in the present study was
fant massage might facilitate mothers sensitivity to her older than the ones in Choi and Kim (2002), the mother-
infant. Kwon (1998) reported that the mothers who infant interaction in this study was higher than the ones
were 4 weeks after delivery especially showed lower in Choi and Kim (2002).
visual interaction, express of affect and kinesthetic When the massage program was finished, all mothers
quality of interaction in the mother-infant interaction. in the experimental group had a chance to express their
However, the results of the present study and Choi and feeling after they massaged to their infant. The mothers
Kim (2002) showed that the experimental group showed in the experimental group reported such as 1) mother
a greater significance than the control group for visual herself increased a concern for her infants growth and
interaction, express of affect and kinesthetic quality of developments; 2) when the infants father was involved
interaction in the mother response. These results could with massage, all family felt that they were happy and
interpret as the effects of infant massage. Blehar, had a good time; and 3) when the mother tried to give
Lieberman, and Ainsworth (1977) suggested that moth- massage to her infant first, some infants cried or disliked
ers initiated the great majority of the episodes and it. However, some other infants showed happy and lay
played the leading role than did their infants during the back automatically when they realized that the mother
early mother-infant interaction. Maternal behaviors started the massage. Some mothers reported that they
largely determined whether the infant responded posi- did not realize that time was going by such quickly be-
tively with smiling, vocalizing, or bouncing, or merely cause they were talking and making a contact frequently
met her gaze. Leitch (1999) suggested that because the through infant massage. Some mothers felt that they be-
innate characteristics of the infant are difficult or impos- came to love the infant more and thought the baby was
sible to be altered, the intervention program to promote cuter. During the abdominal massage in the massage
the mother-infant interaction has to focus on the behav- program at the health district center, an infant had gas
iors of the mother or primary caregiver to increase com- passing. All mothers in the program were astonished and
petence of the parents in interpreting and responding to some of them felt the effects of infant massage.
the infants communication cues. In the experimental Although the initial weight was similar when the mas-
group, express of affect, visual interaction; vocaliza- sage program started, after 4 week of massage the
tion, and smile elicitation were significantly higher weight increased for the experimental group as com-
than the control group, whose results could interpret that pared to the control group. However, mean weight and
1338 Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Vol. 36, No. 8
weight gain did not show a significant difference be- massage is one of the interventions to make an active
tween the two groups. The failure to find any statistical mother-infant interaction, and may thus promote build-
difference between the two groups for the mean weight ing up the emotional tie between the mother and her in-
gain is not consistent with the reports in Kim (1999) and fant. The results from this study present empirical sup-
Kim et al. (2003). Kim (1999) and Kim et al. (2003) re- ports that massage facilitates almost all part for comfort-
ported that body weight for the sensory stimulation ing feelings to the mother and her infant such as close-
group (11 orphaned infants of 2 weeks old when the ness, warmth, care, contact, and affection.
program started) was significantly increased more than From the finding of this study, nurses at the health dis-
the control group (12 orphaned infants) after 4 weeks. trict center or hospital should teach the massage method
These discrepancies were due to the number of massage to the mothers who have an infant to provide a chance
a day. The all infants of the experimental group in the to increase bond and affection between the mother and
studies of Kim (1999) and Kim et al. (2003) received the infant. Even though the parents reported that infant
massage twice a day. However, in the present study, the massage is one of the most commonly intervention
infants in the experimental group received massage only methods for their infant (Loman, 2003), pediatric nurses
1 time a day. The infants in the two studies (Kim, 1999; should provide quality controls such as accurate and
Kim et al 2003) also lived in an orphanage where it standardized massage method.
lacked or deprived of sensory stimuli than the infants Although the infants in the control group were select-
who lived with family. In this study, all infants lived with ed by matching the age and sex in the experimental
their family. So, the differences of weight increase in the group, the number of the infants with the same age and
two studies were greater than ones in this study. same sex may not be sufficient to exclude the effects of
Moreover, the results from Agarwal et al. (2000) and possible confound variables such as gender and age at
Hwang (2003) did not show a significant differences on entry. Also, even the researcher asked that the mothers
the weight gain with normal babies who lived with their in the experimental group should give massage to their
family. baby at least 4 times a week and the mothers in the con-
The increases of height for the experimental group trol group who would give any interventions to their ba-
were greater than the control group. However, there was by during the study were excluded, possible confound
no statistically significant difference between the two variables such as mothers job, mothers characteristics,
groups. This result is consistent with the reports from or the number of family members could not be con-
Agarwal et al. (2000) and Kim (1999), but inconsistent trolled.
with the result from Kim et al. (2003). These discrepan- While the infants with massage did not exhibit a signif-
cies about the effects of massage on weight and height icant increase in weight and height than the infant in the
suggests that it is necessary to perform repetition experi- control group, the findings should be interpreted with
ments with a greater size of samples and the number of caution. Important limitations in this study were that the
massage a day, and a longer period of massage. Also, number of massage a day was less than what it was in
there is need to collect other physiological parameters other studies and the quality of massage might have
such as brain wave, serum protein and stomach move- been different because each mother gave massage to her
ment (Jeon, 2003). own infant. So, it is difficult to conclude that the massage
effect is not clear to promote weight and height. In order
CONCLUSION to see the effects of massage in weight and height be-
tween the experimental group and the control group, the
Mother-infant interaction between a mother and her number of massage a day and the quality of massage
infant has evolutionary survival values to human species must be controlled. Other important limitations in the
(Bowley, 1969), requiring the mothers continuous con- study were that the sample size, the number of the in-
cern to the infants signals. The present study showed fants with the same age between the two groups and the
that massage was associated with an improved infant be- days of massage were not sufficient to see the effect of
havior and increased maternal concern to the infant, massage on weight and height. A larger number of the
which may ultimately promote to increase a positive infants with the same ages and longer days of massage
mother-infant interaction. These findings suggest that would have been examined for weight and height.
Lee. Infant Massage on Mother-Infant Interaction 1339
In terms of future research directions, if the number of Field, T., Hernandez-Reif, M., Diego, M., Feijo, L., Vera, Y., & Gil,
K. (2004). Massage therapy by parents improves early growth
sample, the same ages, and the number of massage a
and development. Infant Behav Dev, 27, 435-442.
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rewarding to evaluate the efficacy of massage. fant massage for mothers with postnatal depression. Semin
Neonatol, 7, 495-500.
Hwang, S. J. (2003). The effect of infant massage on body weight,
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