Parent-child relationships during parenting programmes: A feasibility pilot study of the Contextualising and Learning in Mental Health Support App.

Abstract

Little is known about how parent-child dynamics change when parents engage in parenting intervention programmes. To explore this, the Contextualising and Learning in Mental Health Support (CALMS) app was developed to capture daily parent-reports of these key family dynamics. This small-scale pilot study aimed to test (a) the feasibility of recruiting parents attending parenting programmes to a study of parent-child dynamics throughout a 10-12-week intervention and (b) adherence to reporting parent and child behaviours in CALMS during this period. Nine parents were recruited to complete CALMS from two parenting groups and three participated in feedback interviews. Recruitment was shown to be feasible, and adherence acceptable. Most parents reported that CALMS was easy to use, not burdensome and increased their awareness of their own and their child's behaviours. Feasible and acceptable to parents attending parenting intervention, CALMS may have therapeutic benefits that should be explored in future research.