Exploring parent’s experiences of their child’s psychosis.
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A qualitative study exploring parent’s perceptions and experiences of their child’s diagnosis of a psychotic disorder.
IRAS ID
260152
Contact name
Sally Barlow
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
City, University of London
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 20 days
Research summary
The aim of this research is to explore the perceptions and experiences of parents who have a child under the age of 18 who has been diagnosed with a psychotic disorder. Evidence has previously shown that parents who have learned their child has a disability may experience a 'crisis' which presents as feeling overwhelmed by a lack of clarity about their child’s future, uncertainty regarding the extent of their child’s diagnosis and denial or refusal to accept the diagnosis. This is reflected in research that considers parents experience of their child’s diagnosis of psychotic disorder when their child is between 15-30 years old. It is likely that parents of under 18s and may have different experiences to parent of adults. Therefore, this study will specifically focus on parents of under 18s providing further insights into their lived experience.
Any parent of a child under 18 in Oxleas NHS Trust with a diagnosed psychotic disorder, that is not co-morbid with another disorder, may be included in the study provided the parent is able to speak conversational English and is not currently receiving treatment for a serious mental illness themselves. A purposive sampling technique will be used to recruit up to 6 participants from three local boroughs. Parents will be recruited through a local collaborator (clinician) who is already known to the participant. Parents will be invited to participate in one interview (40-60 minutes in length). Interviews will take place in the participant’s local borough. The participants will use this time to openly discuss their views around their child's diagnosis. The information will be transcribed and then analysed using a method of analysis which aims to make sense of how a person makes sense of their experience. This approach is called Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA).
REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
19/SC/0411
Date of REC Opinion
6 Sep 2019
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion