Participation in an online music program can lower stress in mothers of toddlers with cochlear implants (CIs) after CI activation

INTRODUCTION: Numerous authors have highlighted the relationship between children’s language fragilities and parental stress (Lisa et al., 2019). Mothers of children with cochlear implants (CIs) could experience distress after the communication of the diagnosis (Majorano et al., 2019) and maintain high levels of stress even afterwards (Continisio et al., 2023), due to their children’s communication difficulties in daily interactions. Researchers have addressed that active participation in parent-child music classes could promote well-being of families of children with typical and atypical development (Lense et al., 2020). Moreover, evidence suggests that music trainings are effective rehabilitation tools for children with CIs (Ab Shukor et al., 2023). To the best of our knowledge, no study has investigated the benefits of a music program on mothers of children with CIs. The present study explores if an online music program can support mother-child with CI’s communication and sustain mothers’ parenting- related stress in the first year after children’s CI activation. We present data relative to 6 months after CI activation. METHOD: Ten Italian toddlers with CIs (Mage= 13.9 months; SD=7.6 months) with their mothers (Mage= 35.8 years; SD=3.4) (CIs-T) participated in a 12-week online music program starting at 3 months after CI activation. The proposed stimuli involve rhythm, pitch and melodies. Activities include listening, movement, playing instruments and turn taking. The CIs-T group is compared to an age- matched group (CIs-C) of ten Italian toddlers with CIs (Mage=15.2 months; SD=4.4) and their mothers (Mage=33.9 years; SD=5.5), who did not participate in the program. We administered mothers the short form of the Parenting-Stress Index (PSI; Abidin, 1990) and the short form of Words and Gestures of the Mac Arthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventories (MB-CDI; Fenson et al., 2007). Participants were tested before (T1) and after (T2) the music program. RESULTS: Mothers’ mean levels in the “Total Stress” scale decreased for both groups, but a steeper slope in the CIs-T group than in the controls emerged. The “Parental Distress” dimension increased for the CIs-C group and decreased for the CIs-T group. The “Difficult Child” subscale increased for the CIs-T group and decreased for the CIs-C group. Small decreases for the CIs-C group occur in the “Parent-Child Difficult Interaction” subscale, while we observe no change for the CIs-T group. A repeated measures ANOVA showed non-significant differences between the two groups at T2. Moderate correlations ranging from r=-.46 to r=-.56 (p<.05) were found between all PSI scores (both for “Total Stress” scale and for “Parental Distress”, “Parent-Child Difficult Interaction” and “Difficult Child” subscales) at T1 and at T2 and children’s MB-CDI production scores, both at T1 and at T2. DISCUSSION: Preliminary results suggest that a 12-week interactive online music program could help reduce the stress in mothers of toddlers with CIs at 6 months after CI activation, specifically with respect to parenting-related difficulties. Moreover, the negative associations found between parental stress and children’s vocabulary are consistent with the available evidence. A larger sample and an additional follow-up may clarify the specific contribution of the music program on mothers’ well-being.