Defining Attachment and Bonding

Overlaps, Differences and Implications for Music Therapy Clinical Practice and Research in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (Nicu)

Bibliographic Data

ID15514779
AuthorsMark Ettenberger (0000-0002-2706-6822, Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá, corresponding author), Łucja Bieleninik (0000-0001-9685-2934, University of Gdańsk), Shulamit Epstein (0000-0002-7949-9523, University of Haifa), Cochavit Elefant (University of Haifa)
Year2021
Volume18
Issue4
Pages1733-1733
Publication date2021-02-10
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1661-7827 • E-ISSN: 1660-4601
PublisherMultidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (PUBLISHER • CH)
DOI10.3390/ijerph18041733
PMID33579015
OpenAlexW3128309659
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited52

Preterm birth and the subsequent hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is a challenging life event for parents and babies. Stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms, limitations in holding or touching the baby, and medical complications during the NICU stay can negatively affect parental mental health. This can threaten the developing parent-infant relationship and might adversely impact child development. Music therapy in the NICU is an internationally growing field of clinical practice and research and is increasingly applied to promote relationship building between parents and babies. The two most commonly used concepts describing the early parent-infant relationship are 'attachment' and 'bonding'. While frequently used interchangeably in the literature, they are actually not the same and describe distinctive processes of the early relationship formation. Thus, it is important to discuss the overlaps and differences between attachment and bonding and the implications for music therapy clinical practice and research. Whereas providing examples and possible scenarios for music therapists working on either bonding or attachment, the distinction between both concepts is relevant for many health care professionals concerned with early parenting interventions in the NICU. This will hopefully lead to a more precise use of theory, and ultimately, to a more informed clinical practice and research

Anxiety · Attachment theory · Clinical Practice · Developmental psychology · Intervention (counseling · Mental health · Music therapy · Neonatal intensive care unit · Psychiatry · Psychological intervention · Family and Patient Care in Intensive Care Units · Infant Development and Preterm Care · Infant Health and Development · Medicine · Nursing · Psychology

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Open DOIOpen Access