BOOST: Boosting Baby Behaviour and Bonding
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Boosting Baby Behaviour and Bonding: A feasibility trial of video feedback versus treatment as usual to reduce the risk of behaviour problems in the children of parents with enduring difficulties in managing their emotions and relationships, consistent with a personality disorder.
IRAS ID
223381
Contact name
Kirsten Barnicot
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
2 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
For mothers, the early years of their child’s life can be a wonderful time but also bring lots of challenges and emotional ups and downs. Parents who experience enduring difficulties in managing their emotions and relationships with others - sometimes known as complex emotional needs or personality disorder - can sometimes feel negative about themselves as parents and their relationship with their child and can struggle to feel confident and competent. Existing research on this topic has been predominantly negative in focus, emphasising the challenges that parents can face in attuning to and responding to their child’s communication, and the increased risk their children may face in developing their own emotional and social skills. However, no high quality research to date has sought to address the strengths and capacity for positive growth that can be characteristic of this group of parents, nor to evaluate the potential of supportive parent-infant interventions. Research with other families has shown a brief six-session video-feedback intervention can help parents tune in and respond positively to their child’s communication, and can reduce the risk of children developing emotional or behavioural difficulties in the future. The present research will therefore establish whether parents with enduring difficulties in managing emotions and relationships consent to and complete this intervention, how they think it could be improved, and whether it is feasible to test it in a larger trial in the future. We will first pilot the intervention in eight parents, then randomly assign twenty parents to receive video feedback in addition to their usual treatment, and twenty to receive usual treatment alone. We will interview the parents about their experiences of the intervention and the research, and use their feedback to decide how to adapt the intervention and whether to test it in a larger trial in the future.
REC name
London - Camden & Kings Cross Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/LO/0669
Date of REC Opinion
8 May 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion