The Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale / Edition 4

by T. Berry Brazelton, J. Kevin Nugent

Overview

Clinics in Developmental Medicine No. 190

• Fourth edition of the most comprehensive examination of newborn behavior available
• Well established and used globally as a research instrument and in clinical practice
• Case studies from a range of disciplines and settings enrich this edition
• New administration guidelines and refined scoring criteria for researchers and clinicians

The Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS) is the most comprehensive examination of newborn behaviour available today and has been used in clinical and research settings around the world for more than 35 years. The scale assesses the newborn's behavioral repertoire with 28 behavioral items and also includes an assessment of the infant's neurological status on 20 items. The NBAS items cover the following domains of neonatal functioning: autonomic regulation; motor organization; state organization and regulation and attention/social interaction.

The first part of this new edition book describes in detail the procedures involved in administering and scoring the NBAS. This is followed by chapters setting the assessment in the context of psychological influences around birth, the relationship between the examiner, infant and parents, and what we know about newborn motor behaviour. After a chapter on the use of the NBAS in research settings, the final part comprises descriptions by professionals around the world of its use in clinical practice.

Since the time it was first published, the NBAS has been used in hundreds of studies to examine the effects of a wide range of pre- and perinatal variables. This new edition therefore contains an updated review of research using the NBAS. Because the NBAS is being used increasingly as a way of promoting a positive relationship between parent and child, the new edition also includes new guidelines for clinicians. New guidelines and numerous refinements in the administration and scoring have now been added, and a section describing advances in our understanding of motor behaviour has been added. Finally, new chapters present the uses of the NBAS in a range of contexts around the world, highlighting the wide range of research and clinical applications of the NBAS.

Readership:
Paediatricians, neonatologists, all those involved in the examination of the newborn infant including, for example, nurses, psychologists, infancy specialists, lactation consultants, home visitors, occupational therapists, physical therapists, early intervention specialists, social workers and other allied health professionals (all of whom attend NBAS training courses)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781907655036
Publisher:	Wiley
Publication date:	11/21/2011
Series:	Clinics in Developmental Medicine , #190
Edition description:	4th Revised ed.
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.50(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Dr Brazelton is a noted pediatrician and author, who developed the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), used by major hospitals throughout the world. He has written more than two hundred scholarly papers and twenty-four books. He has been described as "America's most celebrated and influential baby doctor since Benjamin Spock".

Dr Nugent is the Founder and Director of the Brazelton Institute at Children's Hospital in Boston and is on the faculty of the Harvard Medical School in the Department of Pediatrics. He is also Professor of Child and Family Studies at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Table of Contents

Contributors vii

Foreword ix
Martin Bax

1. Introduction 1
T. Berry Brazelton

2. Standard administration of the NBAS 7

3. Manual for scoring the NBAS Items 41

4. Research Uses for the NBAS 67

5. Clinical Uses of the NBAS 84

I. Introduction 84

II. The Combined Physical and Behavioral Neonatal Examination: A Parent-Centered Approach to Pediatric Care 92
Constance Helen Keefer

III. A Model for Intergrating the NBAS into Nursing Practice 102
Donna J. Karl, Judy A. Beal and Patricia N. Rissmiller

IV. Using the NBAS with Families: A Psychotherapeutic Approach 108
Hanne Munck

V. Family Administered Neonatal Activities (FANA) 111
Ida Anne Cardone and Linda Gilkerson

VI. Parents' Perceptions as Guides for Conducting NBAS Clinical Sessions 117
Dieter Wolke

VII. Using the NBAS with High-Risk Infants 126
Jean Gardner Cole

Appendices 123

1. NBAS Scoring Form 133

2. Mother and Baby Scales (MBAS) 135

References 138

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Jay P. Goldsmith, MD (Tulane University School of Medicine)
Description: This book is the source of the most comprehensive evaluation of newborn behavior and interaction between parents and their newborn infant. This edition is not significantly different from previous editions published over the last 35 years (third edition was published in 1995), except for some minor changes in the Neonatal Behavioral Assessment Scale (NBAS), a few added case histories, the use of the scale in various settings, and a review of research using the scale.
Purpose: The purpose is to provide an instructional guide on the administration and scoring of the NBAS. Despite the fact that it takes significant training and at least 20 minutes to perform, it is widely recognized as the most comprehensive evaluation of newborn behavior. This is a worthy goal since this type of evaluation is necessary in many settings — to evaluate the effects of treatments or drugs, to help parents with babies who have difficulties in the neonatal period, and a host of other practical and research uses.
Audience: The book is intended for caretakers of the newborn infant, from physicians to nurses and child psychologists. It may be especially important to researchers studying the effects of various influences on the newly born such as drugs, environment, pregnancy complications, etc. The authors are the world's authorities on this scale since they developed it over 35 years ago.
Features: The major focus of the book is a review of the administration and scoring of the NBAS with excellent pictures illustrating many of the procedures. This is followed by chapters dedicated to the use of the scale in research and various settings with several case histories of newborns with abnormal behavior and interventions. These were mainly anecdotal, and the book presents no evidence that the use of the scale to detect behavioral abnormalities with subsequent intervention statistically improved childhood outcomes. Such a study would make the instrument more important for pediatricians and others to use.
Assessment: This is the single original source for this comprehensive newborn behavioral scale. Other books may refer to the NBAS and even give an abbreviated version of its administration and scoring, but clinicians and researchers wishing to use the NBAS should learn how to do it from the people who created it.

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