Supporting Parents to Support Children: The Role of Parents in Therapeutic Services and Interventions

McConnachie, Anja L (2025) Supporting Parents to Support Children: The Role of Parents in Therapeutic Services and Interventions. Doctoral thesis, University of East Anglia.

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Abstract

Background:
A wealth of literature has highlighted the key influence of parent mental health on child mental health (Fitzsimons et al., 2017; Kessler et al., 2010) and parental involvement within child mental health treatment is an important predictor of treatment outcomes (Dowell & Ogles, 2010). Therefore, it is in the best interest of children, for services to establish the most effective models and methods for supporting their parents. The thesis portfolio aimed to investigate how services can best support parents to support children. This included a) a review of the evidence regarding a specific type of therapeutic intervention (CFT), and b) an exploration of parent experiences of a specific model of child inpatient care (i.e. admitting parents alongside their child to a child mental health unit).

Method:
This portfolio comprised a systematic review and an empirical paper. The systematic review synthesised and appraised studies focusing on Compassion-focussed interventions (e.g. CFT, CMT etc.) for parents on a) parent mental health outcomes and b) child mental health outcomes. The empirical paper explored parents’ experiences of being admitted to a child mental health unit alongside their child and parents’ perceptions of how the admission and therapeutic work influenced their mental health.

Results:
Within the systematic review, most studies indicated improvements in parent mental health outcomes (after receiving compassion focussed interventions). However, of the nine included studies, just two had active control groups and bias was identified across all studies. Only two studies included measures of child mental health, and both observed significant improvements for children, yet neither study included an active control group. The empirical paper revealed the joint-inpatient admission was intense and stressful, yet parents were grateful to be admitted alongside their child and learned a lot from the experience. Therapy supported parents to make sense of their own difficulties and intergenerational family patterns, and to develop more compassionate narratives regarding their parenting. Relationships with staff and other parents, as well as children and non-admitted family members, had a key influence on parent wellbeing,

Conclusion:
The systematic review provides preliminary tentative evidence that compassion focussed interventions may be helpful for parents and their children, though greater, high-quality research is needed. The empirical paper revealed that parents experienced the joint-admission as stressful, yet were grateful to be there with their child and learned a lot from the experience and through therapy. Taken together, the papers provide tentative evidence that a) compassion-focused interventions may hold promise for working with a wide range of parents and b) the joint-inpatient model may be beneficial for parents of children with complex mental health difficulties (providing greater opportunities to support parents to support their children).

Item Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences > Norwich Medical School
Depositing User:	Chris White
Date Deposited:	13 Oct 2025 10:30
Last Modified:	13 Oct 2025 10:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/100701
DOI:

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