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Background: Caring for an infant with unexplained, persistent crying is one of the most stressful events for new parents. Infant irritability, also referred to as infantile colic, occurs in 10-25% of all infants and is the most common parental concern reported in the first year of life., Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a home-based nursing intervention in reducing parenting stress in three groups of families with irritable infants, using data from a larger evaluation study., Methods: A two-site, randomized clinical trial was conducted with 121 infants and their parents. Infants were randomized to a treatment or a control group. A third group of infants (n = 43) was added as a posttest-only comparison. The level of parenting stress was measured by the Parenting Stress Index (PSI) at baseline, after the 4-week intervention, and at the 8-week follow-up visit., Results: A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to compare the two groups across the three time points (baseline, immediately after the 4-week intervention, and at the 8-week follow-up visit). The results revealed a reduction in total parenting stress over time for both the treatment and control groups. Mothers in the treatment group reported reduced parenting stress on the parent-child dysfunctional interaction subscale (p = .04). Total parenting stress scores were found to be significantly higher for mothers in the posttest-only group (p = .009)., Conclusion: Initial parenting stress levels were high in all participants. Parent feedback at the exit interview indicated that the nurse visits for data collection were also viewed as helpful in reducing the stress level associated with parenting these irritable infants. This home-based program was perceived as helpful in improving the interactions between parents and their irritable infants.

Infantile colic is characterized by persistent crying, diminished soothability, and excessive activity or restlessness. The purpose of this study was to explore the processes underlying the persistent, recurrent irritability by investigating behavioral and interactional differences in irritable and nonirritable infants. In this two-group longitudinal study, 40 infants and their mothers were followed over the first 4 months of life. Statistically significant differences between the two groups were found, with the irritable infants demonstrating an increase in the amount and intensity of crying, more disruption in sleep-wake states, and less synchrony in mother-infant interaction.

The specific purpose of this investigation was to examine the newborn performance of colic and noncolic infants on the Brazelton Neonatal Behavior Assessment Scale (BNBAS). The sample was composed of 119 firstborn infants from healthy, married, white couples. Data were collected prenatally, during the perinatal period, and postnatally from birth through four months of infant age. A total of 38 infants (32%) were believed to have colic. Colicky infants differed significantly from noncolicky infants on one of the seven item clusters, labeled the BNBAS Orientation cluster (p less than .05).