Acceptability, engagement and exploratory outcomes and costs of a co-designed intervention to support children of parents with a mental illness: mixed-methods evaluation and descriptive analysis

Bauer, Annette ORCID: 0000-0001-5156-1631, Cartagena Farias, Javiera ORCID: 0000-0002-5984-0317, Christiansen, Hanna, Goodyear, Melinda, Schamschula, Mona, Zechmeister-Koss, Ingrid and Paul, Jean (2024) Acceptability, engagement and exploratory outcomes and costs of a co-designed intervention to support children of parents with a mental illness: mixed-methods evaluation and descriptive analysis. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing. ISSN 1445-8330

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Abstract

Children whose parents have a mental illness are much more likely to experience mental health problems and other adverse long-term impacts. Child-centred psychosocial interventions can be effective, but not much is known about how to design and implement them in different settings. A pre-post, mixed methods, single-arm evaluation of a co-designed social support intervention with parents and children (4–18 years) measured parents' mental health (PHQ-9), perceived social support (ENRICHD), parental self-efficacy (PSAM) and children's mental health (SDQ), quality of life (Kidscreen-27), and child service use (CAMHSRI-EU) at baseline and 6 months. Qualitative data were gathered at 6 months to explore parents' and children's experience with the intervention. Twenty-nine parents and 21 children completed baseline and follow-up questionnaires; 22 parents and 17 children participated in interviews. Parents' depression (MD −1.36, SD 8.08), perceived social support (MD 1, SD 5.91), and children's mental health potentially improved, and children's service use and costs potentially reduced (€224.6 vs. €122.2, MD 112.4). Parental self-efficacy was potentially reduced (MD −0.11, SD 3.33). The sample was too small to perform statistical analysis. Favourable themes emerged describing the high satisfaction with the intervention, parents' improved understanding of the impact of their mental health problems on children, and improvements in parent–child relationships. This study contributes to an emerging evidence base for co-designed child-centred interventions to prevent the transgenerational transmission of poor mental health.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/14470349
Additional Information:	© 2024 The Author(s)
Divisions:	Personal Social Services Research Unit
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Date Deposited:	11 Mar 2024 12:21
Last Modified:	08 Apr 2024 23:14
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/122265

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