Project Title:		Neurohormonal Effects of Massage Therapy
Principal Investigator/Program Director:		Tiffany Field, Ph.D.
Other Investigators and Departments (or other Universities, if applicable):
Community Based Organization-Collaborator (if applicable)		NA
Funding Source (e.g., NICHD, NCI, Dept of Education, Children’s Trust):		NCCAM
Annual Direct Costs:		$166,747
Annual Facility and Administration Costs (F&A) and Rate, (e.g., 53%, 10%):		8%
Total Project Award (Combined Direct and F&A Costs):		$553,791
Dates of Award (if pending, indicated Pending):		2/1/2005-1/31/2008
Lay Abstract (in space below): Please be concise (space below will word wrap and expand)		Please include: (a) Specific Aims, Objectives, and/or Hypotheses of the study; (b) Participants (disease or disability, age, gender, child, family, etc), (c) Project type (eg., descriptive study, service demonstration project, case study, ethnographic study, clinical trial); (d) Brief description of methods and procedures; and (e) anticipated outcomes/benefits
Over the last several years I have developed a program of research and a group of Touch Research Institutes to conduct research on touch therapies including the use of massage therapy for: 1) depressed pregnant women to prevent prematurity and 2) enhancing growth and development of preterm infants. In these studies positive effects unique to the different conditions have resulted from massage therapy. Following on the publication of these empirical data, replications are needed, and the potential underlying phenomena need further exploration. The specific aims of this KO5 application are to explore potential underlying mechanisms that might explain the effects of massage therapy on the two conditions of preventing prematurity in infants of depressed mothers and enhancing growth and development in preterm infants. Two research projects are being conducted on different conditions including 1) pregnancy massage to prevent prematurity and 2) preterm infant massage to enhance growth and development. For both projects a massage therapy and a standard treatment control group will be compared in a group analysis model. Path analyses will also be used to test hypothesized underlying mechanism models. The pregnancy massage project has just been funded by the March of Dimes, and the preterm infant massage project just received NIH funding.
Abstracts and/or Publications Resulting from the Project:	Field T, Diego M, Hernandez-Reif M. Massage therapy research. Developmental Review 2007;27(1):75-89.
	Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Diego M, Schanberg S, Kuhn C. Stability of mood states and biochemistry across pregnancy. Infant Behavior and Development 2006;29(2):262-267
	Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Diego M, Figueiredo B, Schanberg S, Kuhn C. Prenatal cortisol, prematurity and low birthweight. Infant Behavior and Development 2006;29(2):268-275
	Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Diego M. Newborns of depressed mothers who received moderate versus light pressure massage during pregnancy. Infant Behavior and Development 2006;29(1):54-58
	Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Diego M. Intrusive and withdrawn depressed mothers and their infants. Developmental Review 2006;26(1):15-30. Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Diego M. Risk factors and stress variables that differentiate depressed from nondepressed pregnant women. Infant Behavior and Development 2006;29(2):169-174. Field T, Diego M, Hernandez-Reif M, Figueiredo B, Deeds O, Contogeorgos J, et al. Prenatal paternal depression. Infant Behavior and Development 2006;29(4):579-583. Field T, Diego M, Hernandez-Reif M. Prenatal depression effects on the fetus and newborn: a review. Infant Behavior and Development 2006;29(3):445-455. Diego MA, Jones NA, Field T, Hernandez-Reif M, Schanberg S, Kuhn C, et al. Maternal psychological distress, prenatal cortisol, and fetal weight. Psychosomatic Medicine 2006;68(5):747-53. Diego M-A, Field T, Jones N-A, Hernandez-Reif M. Withdrawn and intrusive maternal interaction style and infant frontal EEG asymmetry shifts in infants of depressed and non-depressed mothers. Infant Behavior and Development 2006.