“What support would you find helpful?” The relationship between treatment expectations, therapeutic engagement, and clinical outcomes in parent–infant psychotherapy

Becker

et al. 2021

Pilot Feasibility Stud

Background Psychotherapy of mother-child dyads is an intervention which was developed to prevent maltreatment and negative children’s development. There is a lack of good-quality research investigating psychotherapeutic interventions and social care for mothers at high-risk living in Mother-Child Facilities in Germany. The present randomized controlled pilot trial (RCT) aimed to evaluate the need for parent-infant psychotherapy (PIP) and to explore its impact on the mother-infant relationship. Primary feasibility objectives were recruitment and attrition, with potential efficacy defined as the secondary feasibility objective. Methods This pilot RCT focused on (young) mothers with cumulative risk factors and their infants under 7 months of age living in Mother-Child Facilities. N=32 mother-child dyads were randomly allocated to PIP or Care as usual (CAU). Outcomes were assessed at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months of intervention. The primary potential efficacy outcome was maternal sensitivity. Secondary outcomes were maternal mental health problems, reflective functioning, parenting stress, personality organization, infant’s development, and attachment. Results At baseline, all mothers showed low levels of emotional availability, but results revealed improvements in sensitivity, mental health problems, stress, and depressive symptomatology favoring PIP after 6 months. Positive developments in maternal sensitivity, a healthy aspect of mother-child interaction, were only found in the PIP group. Overall attrition was high at 6 months. Some evidence of fewer depressive symptoms and lower maternal distress after 6 months of PIP-intervention exists that did not reach significance. Conclusion Findings revealed improvements in the mother’s well-being for both groups, but PIP had a higher impact on the mother-child dyad. In sum, there is some evidence that PIP may represent an effective intervention offer besides the social and pedagogical support in these facilities, but further research is demanded. Trial registration DRKS00022485 (retrospectively registered).

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential efficacy of parent-infant psychotherapy with mothers and their infants from a high-risk population: a randomized controlled pilot trial

Becker

et al. 2021

Pilot Feasibility Stud

“…Some studies [23,[52][53][54] point out that there is a link between the engagement of participant, withdrawal and therapeutic alliance. In this trial, therapeutic alliance and patients' motivation will not be assessed.…”

Section: Ethical Considerations and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…While the meta-analysis of Barlow et al did not reveal differences for measures of parental sensitivity [1], the authors clearly noted that the quality of the included studies was low while heterogeneity of these samples was high. The available evidence seems to indicate that PIP is more effective in subgroups of at-risk populations but more research addressing these limitations is needed [1,23,24]. This seems to be particularly true in case of mothers with mental health problems and young infants.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy of Parent-Infant-Psychotherapy with mothers with postpartum mental disorder: study protocol of the randomized controlled trial as part of the SKKIPPI project

Richter

et al. 2020

Trials

Background: After the birth of a child, many mothers and fathers experience postpartum mental disorders like depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, stress or other illnesses. This endangers the establishment of a secure attachment between the children and their primary caregivers. Early problems in parent-child interaction can have adverse long-term effects on the family and the child's well-being. In order to prevent a transgenerational transmission of mental disorders, it is necessary to evaluate psychotherapeutic interventions that target psychologically burdened parents of infants or toddlers. The aim of this trial is to investigate the efficacy of Parent-Infant-Psychotherapy (PIP) for mothers with postpartum mental disorder and their infants (0-12 months). Methods/design: In this open, randomized controlled intervention trial 180 mother-infant-dyads will be included and randomly allocated to 12 sessions of PIP or care as usual. The interventions take place either in inpatient adult psychiatric departments or in outpatient settings with home visits. The primary outcome is the change in maternal sensitivity assessed by the Sensitivity subscale of the Emotional Availability Scale (EAS) through videotaped dyadic play-interactions after 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes are maternal psychopathology, stress, parental reflective functioning, infant development and attachment after 6 weeks and 12 months. In addition, maternal attachment (AAI) and reflective functioning (AAI) will be analyzed as potential moderators, and resource usage in the German health system as well as associated costs will be evaluated. Discussion: There is increasing demand for well-controlled studies on psychotherapeutic interventions in the postpartum period that do not only focus on particular risk groups. This randomized controlled trial (RCT) represents one of the first studies to investigate the efficacy of PIP in inpatient psychiatric departments and outpatient care centers in Germany. The results will fill knowledge gaps on the factors contributing to

“…Some studies [23,[53][54][55] point out, that there is a link between the engagement of participant, withdrawal and therapeutic alliance. In this trial, therapeutic alliance and patients' motivation will not be assessed.…”

Section: Ethical Considerations and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Efficacy of Parent-Infant-Psychotherapy with mothers with postpartum mental disorder: study protocol of the randomized controlled trial as part of the SKKIPPI project.

Richter

et al. 2020

Preprint

Background: After the birth of a child, many mothers and fathers experience postpartum mental disorders like depression, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder, stress or other illnesses. This endangers the establishment of a secure attachment between the children and their primary caregivers. Early problems in parent-child interaction can have adverse long-term effects on the family and the child’s well-being. In order to prevent a transgenerational transmission of mental disorders, it is necessary to evaluate psychotherapeutic interventions that target psychologically burdened parents of infants or toddlers. The aim of this trial is to investigate the efficacy of Parent-Infant-Psychotherapy (PIP) for mothers with postpartum mental disorder and their infants (0-12 month).Methods: In this open randomized controlled intervention trial 180 mother-infant dyads will be included and randomly allocated to 12 sessions of PIP or care as usual. The interventions take place either in inpatient adult psychiatric departments or in outpatient settings with home visits. The primary outcome is the change in maternal sensitivity assessed by the Sensitivity subscale of the Emotional Availability Scale (EAS) through videotaped dyadic play-interactions after 6 weeks. Secondary outcomes are maternal psychopathology, stress, parental reflective functioning, infant development and attachment after 6 weeks and 12 months. In addition, maternal attachment (AAI) and reflective functioning (AAI) will be analyzed as potential moderators, and resource usage in the German health system as well as associated costs will be evaluated. Discussion: There is increasing demand for well-controlled studies on psychotherapeutic interventions in the postpartum period that do not only focus on particular risk groups. This RCT represents one of the first studies to investigate the efficacy of PIP in inpatient psychiatric departments and outpatient care centres in Germany. The results will fill knowledge gaps on the factors contributing to symptom reduction in postpartum mental disorders and improvements in mother-child relationships and help developing preventive and therapeutic strategies for the fragmented German health care system.Trial registration: German Register for Clinical Trials: DRKS00016353.