This study is aimed to confirm the effects of Yakson therapy on the growth and physical response of preterm infants, and maternal attachment to them compared with GHT therapy.

The design of this study is nonequivalent control group with repeated measuring by quasi experimental study. The subjects are preterm infants in 26 - 34 gestational age hospitalized in the NICU of 4 university hospitals with an experimental group of 15 and a control group of 14. Yakson therapy consists of three phases: laying a hand, caressing by hand, and laying a hand again taking 5 minutes for each phase.

As a result of administering Yakson therapy to preterm infants; the average weight gain of the Yakson group was higher than that of the GHT group, but there is no significant difference between groups. The oxygen saturation and maternal attachment difference between the Yakson and the GHT group were not significant. Significant differences in the average daily increase of oral intake and apical pulse rate were observed between the Yakson group and GHT group.

These data suggested that Yakson therapy may be an effective nursing intervention which can facilitate growth and physical response of preterm infants.

The main purpose of this study was to establish a nursing intervention data base to improve maternal attachment.

The first group of mothers(control group), experienced their first physical contact with their infants after being discharged from the hospital. The second group (experimental group) practiced early initial mother-infant postpartum contact known as the most sensitive period for founding maternal-infancy attachment. The subjects of this study gave birth to normal infants at M hospital from Aug.25 to Sept.30, 2004. During the same time, data was collected through direct observation, with instruments designed by Cropley et al., to assess the behaviors of normal attachment. The statistical methods for data analysis were percentage, mean, standard deviation and t-test with an SPSS program.

The group practicing initial mother-infant contact, showed a higher degree of physical and functional bonding than the group experiencing the first contact after discharge from the hospital (control group)(p<.01). The group practicing initial mother-infant contact, showed higher degrees of bonding attachment assessments than the group experiencing their first initial contact after their discharge from the hospital(p<.01).

The group practicing early mother-infant contact, showed more maternal-infant interaction than the group experiencing their initial contact after their discharge from the hospital. These results show that maternal attachment behavior increases according with an early initial mother-infant contact.

This study was performed to investigate the quantities of three neo-maternal exposures; visiting frequency, auditory contact and physical contact, and to examine the relationship between the quantities of each exposure and maternal attachment, maternal self-esteem and postpartum depression in 40 mothers of NICU babies during the first week in the NICU.

Each neo-maternal exposure was counted at every mother's visit to the newborn and maternal attachment, maternal self-esteem and postpartum depression were measured using the maternal attachment inventory, the maternal self-report inventory and Edinburgh Postpartum Depression Scale (EPDS) on the first and seventh day in the NICU.

The Mean of each neo-maternal exposure was 8.77(2.81) for the visiting frequency, 5.82(3.66) for the auditory contact and 5.60(2.89) for the physical contact during 7 days in the NICU. No significant changes were found in the scores of maternal attachment, maternal self-esteem and postpartum depression between the first and the seventh day in the NICU. The quantities of neo-maternal exposures were positively related to the scores of maternal attachment and maternal self-esteem but not related to postpartum depression.

The results of the study suggest the lack of early neo-maternal exposure in cases of NICU hospitalization negate its beneficial effects on maternal psychological well-being in increasing maternal attachment and self-esteem. More efforts are neededfor the neo-maternal interaction and the reevaluation of NICU visitation hours in order to promote maternal-infant interaction.

To examine the effect of Taegyo-focused prenatal classes on maternal-fetal attachment and self-efficacy related to childbirth.

Over 4 weeks, 49 women, 20 to 36 weeks of gestation participated in a prenatal program led by the nurse who developed it. In addition to Lamaze content it included; understanding ability of fetus to respond, sharing motivation, purpose of pregnancy, and preconceptions of experiencing childbirth, training in maternal-fetal interaction, writing letters and making a declaration of love to unborn baby. Using a pre-experimental design, data were collected by self-report, before and after program, using Cranley's Maternal-Fetal Attachment Scale (1981), and Shin's (1997) Labor Self-Efficacy Measurement.

Paired t-test showed significant changes in scores of maternal-fetal attachment (t=6.91. p<.001) and self-efficacy related to childbirth (t=10.19, p<.001). Taegyo opens the possibility of integrating Western ideas with Korean traditional health behavior. Incorporation of Taegyo into existing prenatal classes is recommended.

The purpose of this study is to identify the influencing factors of mother-infant attachment and construct a descriptive model that explains mother-infant attachment during the early postpartum period.

The hypothetical model of this study consisted of 8 variables with 23 constructed paths. The subjects of this study were 152 postpartum women. Data was analyzed to test the hypothetical model using covariance structure analysis.

The final model which is modified from the hypothetical model improved to Chi-Square 41.92, GFI .95, AGFI .89, RMSR .02, RMSEA .06, NFI .94, and NNFI .95. Mother-infant attachment during the early postpartum period was proven to be influenced directly by neonatal perception, maternal sensitivity, and maternal-fetal attachment and also indirectly by social support, maternal-fetal attachment and maternal identity. These variables accounted for 32% of the variance of the mother-infant attachment during the early postpartum period.

It is necessary that the nurses provide postpartum women with an intervention using social support for improving maternal identity and alleviating maternal role strain. It can be helpful to improve maternal sensitivity and in the end it will facilitate the mother-infant attachment during postpartum period.

This study was conducted to identify the protective factors that influence suicide probability in religious male high school students.

The data was collected from Nov. 5 to Dec. 10, 2009. Data were collected by self-report questionnaire from 255 students selected from 2 religious male high schools in B city. The instruments for this study were the Suicide Probability Scale for Adolescence (SPS-A), Inventory Parents Peer Attachment-Revision (IPPA-R), Spiritual Well-being Scale (SWBS), and Ego-identity Scale. The data were analyzed using t-test, one-way ANOVA, Scheffe test, Pearson correlation coefficients and stepwise multiple regression with the SPSS 14.0 program.

The protective factors of suicide probability in religious male high school students were identified as existential spiritual well-being (β= -.46, p<.001), self-identity (β= -.30, p<.001), and mother attachment (β= -.21, p<.001). These three factors explained 61.5% of the variance in suicide probability.

The results suggest that improvement in spirituality, ego-identity, and mother attachment for religious male high school students is important to reduce the probability of suicide.

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of a Taegyo program on parents-fetal attachment and parenthood in first pregnancy couples (mothers and spouses).

The research design was a nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest experiment. Study participants were 52 first pregnancy couples visiting two medium-scale obstetrics and gynecology clinics located in Gwangju. A total of 52 couples were assigned to the experimental group (25 couples) and the control group (27 couples). The experimental couples were provided with a Taegyo program for 4 weeks. Data were analyzed by chi square test, t-test, and ANCOVA using the SPSS program.

Post-treatment maternal-fetal attachment, paternal-fetal attachment and motherhood significantly increased in the experimental group as compared to the control group, but post-treatment fatherhood, anxiety, blood pressure and pulse of participants in the experimental group showed no significant difference from those in the control group.

From these results, it is suggested that the Taegyo program has beneficial effects in enhancing parent-fetal attachment and motherhood in first pregnancy couples. Therefore, a Taegyo program can be recommended as a nursing intervention program for first pregnancy couples.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of music therapy on postpartum blues and maternal attachment of puerperal women.

The research design was a nonequivalent control group non-synchronized design. The participants were puerperal women who agreed to participate in this study and through a convenience sampling, 60 puerperal women were recruited (30 in the experimental group, 30 in the control group). After measuring postpartum blues and maternal attachment, music therapy was provided to the experimental group over 40 min, once a day, and for 8 days. Then, postpartum blues and maternal attachment for the experimental and control group were measured again on the 8th day. The data were analyzed using the SPSS WIN 12.0 Program.

The first hypothesis that "the degree of postpartum blues for the experimental group who participated in music therapy would be lower than that of the control group" was accepted (t=4.350, p<.001). The second hypothesis that "the degree of maternal attachment of the experimental group who participated in music therapy would be higher than that of the control group" was accepted (t=4.828, p<.001).

These findings indicate that music therapy has positive influences on decreasing postpartum blues and increasing maternal attachment of puerperal women.

The purpose of this study was to identify the relationship of peer relationships, self-reported attachment security, perceived parental rearing attitudes, and loneliness in upper elementary school-age children.

The data were collected from 207 students in grades 5 or 6, and descriptive statistics, t-test, Pearson correlation coefficients and Stepwise multiple regression were used with the SPSS/PC 12.0 program to analyze the data.

There was a significant difference in loneliness between the upper 25% and lower 25% groups of peer relationships, perceived parental rearing attitudes, and self-reported attachment security. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed affection-hostility in parental rearing attitudes, validation and conflict in peer relationships, and attachment security explained 39.6% of the total variance in loneliness.

These results may contribute to a better understanding of loneliness in upper elementary school-age children. The results of the present study indicate a need to develop nursing interventions to prevent and manage children's loneliness.

The purpose of this study was to measure the effects of a breast feeding promotion program for working women on breast feeding continuation, mother-infant attachment, and maternal sensitivity.

The design of this study is nonequivalent control group design with repeated measures.

There were significant differences in breast feeding continuation between two groups at each time point except 2 days and 1 week after delivery. The scores of mother-infant attachment and maternal sensitivity of experimental group were higher than those of the control group, but there were no significant differences between two groups.

Although some modifications in contents and administration will be required to increase the effectiveness of the program, breast feeding promotion program for working women can be an effective nursing intervention which can facilitate breast feeding continuation and mother-infant relationships.