Parent-child interactions in parents with psychosis
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding parent-child interactions in parents with psychosis and their young children
IRAS ID
340088
Contact name
Francis Madden
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 2 months, 30 days
Research summary
The parent-child relationship is key to child development, particularly in the early years prior to starting school. Parental mental health is one factor that can impact this. Psychosis is a condition affecting thoughts, feelings, and perception of reality, leading to symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, and confusion. This can make parenting more challenging, as psychosis may interfere with the parent’s ability to notice and respond to their child’s needs and emotions. In turn, this could affect the quality of the parent-child relationship, which is critical for mental and physical child development. While there has been a focus of research in the perinatal period (up to a year postnatal), there is less research about the challenges for parents with toddlers and pre-school children.
The study will compare two groups of parents of 24–60-month-old children, one group who have psychosis and another who do not. The study will use a short video of parent-child interaction as well as standardised questionnaires about mental health and parenting. The study has two aims:
Firstly, the study aims to understand parent child interactions in parents with and without psychosis using an established scale to rate a five minute sample of video of parents playing with their child.
Second, the study aims to investigate factors that can influence parent child interactions such as parental stress, worry, low mood and symptom severity, and to understand the differences between parents with and without psychosis.
The study will contribute to the understanding of how psychosis affects parent-child interactions.
REC name
East of England - Cambridge East Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/EE/0154
Date of REC Opinion
23 Aug 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion