Surviving Crying
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Cluster Randomised Controlled Trial of a Service to Support the Mental Health and Coping of Parents with Excessively Crying Infants
IRAS ID
306620
Contact name
Jayne Brown
Contact email
ISRCTN Number
ISRCTN73761296
Duration of Study in the UK
3 years, 11 months, 31 days
Research summary
Around a fifth of infants cry a lot without an apparent reason during the first four months after they are born. This ‘excessive’ infant crying is often called ‘colic’ and blamed on indigestion. Recent evidence shows that only 5% of infants taken to the doctor because of excessive crying are unwell. However, the crying can distress parents and lead to maternal depression, poor parent-child relationships, problems with child development and infant abuse in extreme cases. By developing NHS services which support parents whose babies cry excessively, we hope to improve the parents’ wellbeing and coping, infant outcomes, and how NHS money is spent.
includes a website. booklet based on website and programme of session (CBT) by a qualified practitioner to support parental coping.
This cluster randomised controlled trial will show whether parent/carers who have access to this package become less depressed and cope better with their baby's crying compared to parent/carers who receive routine NHS support.REC name
London - Brighton & Sussex Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/LO/0284
Date of REC Opinion
11 May 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion