Caregivers' attitudes towards parenting assessments and interventions
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Caregivers' attitudes towards parenting, parenting assessments, and parenting interventions informed by attachment theory and research
IRAS ID
356432
Contact name
Robbie Duschinsky
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
School of Clinical Medicine
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
N/A, N/A
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 8 months, 30 days
Research summary
- Why is this important?
The quality of child-caregiver attachment is often evaluated in child clinical and welfare practice. For example, the standardised form for all NHS Child & Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) referrals asks the referrer to identify whether “attachment difficulties” are present or absent. Researchers find that those evaluations can predict some mental health and social difficulties for children. Therefore, they can influence the type of support a child receives. However, we know little about the experience of caregivers who receive those evaluations.
- What will happen?
We will conduct qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 30 caregivers whose family receives support from CAMHS.
Interviews will discuss: (i) their attitudes to parenting, such as what they understand as a ‘good’ or ‘bad’ caregiver, (ii) enablers and barriers to being the kind of caregiver they want to be, (iii) their views on what and who most influences their decisions on how to parent, (iv) their attitudes towards professional parenting advice, including what advice they tend to trust and why, (v) their attitudes towards parenting assessments and interventions, such as what they find (or might find) helpful or distressing, and (vi) their attitudes towards the principles and features of attachment-based parenting assessments and interventions.
- What are the implications?
This study will a) advance knowledge about how caregivers approach parenting, b) identify what caregivers find helpful and unhelpful in parenting advice, assessments, and interventions, and c) provide insights into how (a) and (b) relate to attachment research. It will support more successful implementation of attachment-based interventions and have wider value for parenting advice and support programmes.
- Who may be interested in this study?
Stakeholders include a) mental health practitioners and other practitioners working with children and families, b) caregivers and families, and c) researchers.
REC name
London - Stanmore Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
25/LO/0902
Date of REC Opinion
22 Jan 2026
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion