Brief Group Parenting Programme for Anxious Parents of 1-3 year olds
Research type
Research Study
Full title
‘Sowing the Seeds of Confidence’: Brief Group Parenting Programme for Anxious Parents of 1-3 year olds with the aim of reducing transmission of anxiety through generations.
IRAS ID
258790
Contact name
Fiona Challacombe
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
King's College London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
The rationale for this study comes from previous research which found that anxiety can affect parenting; research has suggested it can lead to parents being very sensitive to threats in their children’s worlds or reacting negatively to their children’s emotions. It therefore follows as research has shown that children of clinically anxious parents are more likely to develop anxiety disorders themselves. It is possible to treat anxiety-related difficulties in young people, though it has been demonstrated that it is hard to do successfully and many children do not access the treatment available therefore remain unsupported.
This study will explore whether intervening early in parenthood could help prevent anxiety in children ever establishing in the first place. This has been shown to have potential with parents of older children.
We have designed a programme of psychological education aimed at helping parents explore their parenting and to learn techniques to reduce anxiety spilling over into their child’s world. This study will be primarily focused on finding out whether delivering the intervention is feasible and acceptable to the participants. This will inform future larger trials.
Eligible participants will be those who have recently or currently experience an anxiety disorder, and have a child aged between 12 and 36 months (post-perinatal period). Recruitment will be through local primary care psychological services (IAPT) and a secondary psychological service (CADAT). The group session will be run three times with different groups of eight anxious parents.
The parents' feedback will be gathered before, immediately after the intervention and after 6 weeks to see whether attending the group may make a difference over this time. They will be asked about how acceptable they found the group, as well as being asked to report on their own anxiety, parenting style and behaviours, and about their child's emotions and behaviours.
REC name
London - Dulwich Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/LO/1438
Date of REC Opinion
18 Sep 2019
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion