Me, My Child, and Us: A Group Parenting Intervention for Parents with Lived Experience of Psychosis
Abstract
1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Design
2.2. Participants
2.3. Measures
2.4. Procedure
2.5. Data Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Acceptability and Feasibility of Me, My Child, and Us
3.2. Effectiveness of Me, My Child, and Us
4. Discussion
4.1. Limitations
4.2. Future Directions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Gender | Age | Ethnicity | No. of Children | Children’s Ages | Number of Sessions Attended |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Female | 36–45 | PoGM | 1 | 6 | 2 |
Female | 36–45 | PoGM | 1 | 3 | 8 |
Female | >45 | White British | 1 | 15 | 8 |
Female | >45 | White British | 1 | 10 | 7 |
Female | 36–45 | White British | 3 | 11, 9, 3 | 8 |
Female | >45 | White British | 1 | 5 | 6 |
Female | >45 | White British | 2 | 8, 12 | 7 |
Female | 36–45 | White British | 4 | 8, 12, 15, 17 | 8 |
Male | 26–35 | White British | 4 | 8, 5, 2, 3 | 6 |
Female | 26–35 | PoGM | 3 | 13, 11, 8 | 6 |
Male | >50 | White British | 2 | 16, 4 | 2 |
Female | 26–35 | White British | 2 | 6, 5 | 5 |
Female | 36–45 | PoGM | 1 | 5 | 5 |
Name of Measure | Function | Properties |
---|---|---|
Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation, CORE-10, (Barkham et al., 2013) | Assesses distress and functioning. | Ten-item questionnaire. Scores are presented as a total score of 0–40 and a mean score of 0–4. Higher scores indicate higher levels of general psychological distress. A total score of 11 or above indicates clinical significance. It has an internal reliability (alpha) of 0.9 |
Being a Parent Scale, BAPS, (Gibaud-Wallson & Wandersmith, 1978 as cited in Johnston & Mash, 1989) | Assesses parental self-efficacy and satisfaction regarding their parenting experiences. | Sixteen-item questionnaire with a 6-point Likert-type scale, which parents use to answer the extent to which they agree or disagree with statements about their parenting experiences. Scores range from 16 to 96. Scores are divided into satisfaction and efficacy, with lower scores indicating higher efficacy and satisfaction. Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.75 for satisfaction scale and 0.76 for efficacy scale are reported for reliability. |
Child–parent Relationship Scale (Pianta, 1992) | Assesses parent–child relationship. | Fifteen-item questionnaire with a 5-point Likert scale. Each item is made up of 2 statements (30 statements in total), reflecting both positive and negative aspects of parent–child relationships. Ratings are clustered into two groups conflict and closeness. Lower scores on the conflict questions indicate more positive experiences, and higher scores for closeness questions indicate more positive experiences. Studies typically find good internal consistency, with Cronbach’s alpha values typically ranging from 0.70 to 0.90 for both the Closeness and Conflict subscales. |
The Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire, PRFQ (Luyten et al., 2017) | Assesses parents’ capacity to mentalize about and reflect on their actual and evolving relationship with their child(ren), including the parent’s understanding, curiosity about or disavowal of mental states, and the relationship between mental states and behavior. | Eighteen-item questionnaire rated on a 7-point Likert scale. The questionnaire consists of three subscales. Scores range from 18 to 126. There are three subscales, each consist of 6 items and are rated on a 7-point Likert scale. The PRFQ has good internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.688, 0.772 and 0.745 per respective subscale). For the pre-mentalizing subscale, higher scores indicate lower levels of parental reflective functioning. For the certainty and interest/curiosity subscales, average scores are considered optimal. |
Parental Stress Scale (Berry & Jones, 1995) | Assesses parents’ stress levels associated with child-rearing. It focuses on parents’ perceptions of their parental role rather than on the sources of stress themselves. | An 18-item measure. Scores range from 18 to 90, where higher scores indicate higher stress levels. Acceptable reliability ratings are reported cross-culturally (Nærde & Sommer Hukkelberg, 2020). |
Session Number | Topic Discussed |
---|---|
One Two | Background to Parenting (as seen in Family Talk, Let’s Talk about children, CHIMPS, Kids Time, Triple P, Beardslee’s preventive family intervention and VIA family): understanding psychosis and the relationship between psychosis and parenting. Mentalization (as seen in the Lighthouse Parenting Programme and Turning into kids): improving mentalization (reflective functioning) and gaining a better understanding of children’s needs. |
Three | Attunement (as seen in the Lighthouse Parenting Programme and Turning into kids): learning to better engage with children and learning to better respond to children. |
Four | Communication (as seen in Beardslee’s preventive family intervention, Let’s talk about children, Kids Time, Family Talk and Think Family Whole Family Programme): assertiveness techniques and using encouragement, praise, and rewards. |
Five | Managing Conflict and Setting Boundaries (as seen in Think Family Whole Family, Triple P and the Parenting Internet Intervention). |
Six | Managing Symptoms of Psychosis (components of parental wellbeing or self-care is included in interventions such as CHIMPS Intervention): understanding symptoms of psychosis and learning coping strategies. |
Seven | Communication about Psychosis with Children (as seen in Behavioral Family Therapy, Family Talk, CHIMPS Intervention, Child Talks, Kids Time, Triple P, and CHIMPS): myth busting fears about talking to children about psychosis, exploring what language to use and how to be age appropriate when speaking to children about psychosis, and considering what resources to use when talking to children about psychosis. |
Eight | Planning for the Future: reflecting on learning, consolidating learning, and planning on how to maintain the use of newly learned skills and techniques. |
Theme | Description | Illustrative Quotes |
---|---|---|
Positive parenting changes | Increased attentiveness, improved emotional regulation, and strengthened relationships with children. | “I listen to them more… they seem to want to talk to me more.” |
“I have become more assertive… able to set boundaries better. | ||
Enhanced Understanding and Confidence | Greater self-awareness and confidence as a parent; application of parenting techniques. | “I am a lot more aware of my own emotions now… this helps me to mentalize my children better.” |
Social Connection & Empowerment | Feeling supported and less isolated; benefits of sharing experiences with peers. | “It felt really empowering… to hear about similar experiences.” |
“Being in a group with other parents made me feel less lonely.” | ||
Course Design & Delivery | Appreciation of structure, balance, and content (videos, discussion, relaxation, etc.). | “It was a really good course… I wouldn’t change anything.” |
Suggestions for expansion | Requests for similar groups focusing on psychosis alone; desire for broader access. | “I would like GPs and social services to be aware of this course.” |
Overall Experience | Highly positive reflections; described as transformative and valuable. | “It’s been the best group I have been to.” |
“Perfect intervention for me.” |
Outcome | Pre-Test | Post-Test | Post–Pre | Post-/Pre-Change | t-Value | Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test p-Value |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mean (SE) | Mean (SE) | Mean | % | |||
CORE-10 (psychological distress scores) | 14.09 (2.97) | 2.82 (1.53) | −11.27 | −80.00 | 4.70 | 0.001 |
Being a Parent Scale | ||||||
Satisfaction Scale | 31.09 (1.95) | 45.27 (2.63) | 14.18 | 45.61 | −7.05 | 0.001 |
Efficacy Scale | 28.00 (2.05) | 38.45 (0.99) | 10.45 | 37.34 | −6.52 | 0.001 |
Child–parent Relationship Scale | ||||||
Conflicts Scores | 34.27 (3.48) | 16.55 (1.20) | −17.73 | −51.72 | 6.56 | 0.001 |
Positive aspects of relationship (closeness) | 39.55 (1.73) | 45.82 (1.01) | 6.27 | 15.86 | −4.28 | 0.001 |
Dependence Scores | 10.18 (0.69) | 8.91 (0.49) | −1.27 | −12.50 | 2.01 | 0.1055 |
The parental reflective functioning scale | ||||||
Pre-Mentalizing Modes | 2.94 (0.42) | 1.09 (0.08) | −1.85 | −62.89 | 4.38 | 0.001 |
Certainty about Mental States | 3.39 (0.47) | 5.65 (0.14) | 2.26 | 66.52 | −5.23 | 0.0015 |
Interest and Curiosity in Mental States | 5.30 (0.47) | 7.00 (0.00) | 1.70 | 32.00 | −3.64 | 0.001 |
Parental Stress Scale | 50.82 (3.54) | 23.64 (1.52) | −27.18 | −53.49 | 8.24 | 0.001 |
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Sivarajah, N.; Radley, J.; Knowles-Bevis, R.; Johns, L.C. Me, My Child, and Us: A Group Parenting Intervention for Parents with Lived Experience of Psychosis. Behav. Sci. 2025, 15, 950. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15070950
Sivarajah N, Radley J, Knowles-Bevis R, Johns LC. Me, My Child, and Us: A Group Parenting Intervention for Parents with Lived Experience of Psychosis. Behavioral Sciences. 2025; 15(7):950. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15070950
Chicago/Turabian StyleSivarajah, Nithura, Jessica Radley, Rebecca Knowles-Bevis, and Louise C. Johns. 2025. "Me, My Child, and Us: A Group Parenting Intervention for Parents with Lived Experience of Psychosis" Behavioral Sciences 15, no. 7: 950. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15070950
APA StyleSivarajah, N., Radley, J., Knowles-Bevis, R., & Johns, L. C. (2025). Me, My Child, and Us: A Group Parenting Intervention for Parents with Lived Experience of Psychosis. Behavioral Sciences, 15(7), 950. https://doi.org/10.3390/bs15070950