The concurrent validity of CARO
Research type
Research Study
Full title
The concurrent validity of the Child and Adult Relationship Observational tool (CARO) in a Scottish Mother and Baby Unit.
IRAS ID
260784
Contact name
Julie Drummond
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 9 months, 30 days
Research summary
The importance of the relationship between mother and child, especially during the first two years of a child’s life, has been consistently linked to a wide variety of outcomes for children. One of the factors that contributes to this relationship is the quality of interaction between mother and child. Severe mental illness following the birth of a child can negatively impact on mother-infant interactions. Mother and baby units (MBUs) provide care for mothers who experience severe mental illness in the year following childbirth. The care provided usually focuses on treating the mothers’ mental illness, which may not improve mother-infant interactions or enhance outcomes for children. Video feedback interventions have been shown to improve mother-infant interactions. Video recording the mother for a few minutes while she is playing with her baby is reviewed and shared with the mother with a focus on the positive qualities. Recent studies trialling video feedback interventions in MBUs have shown promising results.
The Child and Adult Relationship Observational tool (CARO) is a tool used to identify positive interactions between parent and child. It has recently been developed with the aim of simplifying existing tools. Although this tool has been piloted in other settings it has never been tested whether it is useful and quick enough to use in a busy hospital setting such as an MBU. This study aims to establish how CARO compares with other available tools.
The target population is all mothers and babies admitted to the West of Scotland (MBU) during the available recruitment period. Participants will be asked to engage in a short play session with their babies. These sessions will be video recorded and coded using CARO and two existing tools. This information will be used to establish whether CARO is a useful measure of mother-infant interactions in a MBU setting.
REC name
East of Scotland Research Ethics Service REC 1
REC reference
19/ES/0074
Date of REC Opinion
2 Jul 2019
REC opinion
Unfavourable Opinion