Parenting Research Centre | Parenting through Childhood Trauma

Parenting through Childhood Trauma

Can a program that enhances coping skills prevent the development of mental health disorders in parents caring for children with life-threatening conditions?

This research will identify psychosocial risk factors in families and assess whether a parent support program can improve adjustment and reduce distress in parents of children with a serious illness or injury. It is being conducted in collaboration with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.

The objective of the project is to develop an accessible, preventative program for parents of children with a serious illness or injury that reduces parent stress and trauma symptoms.

The research will be undertaken in two streams:

Identification of the psychosocial risk factors in families with a child with a serious illness or injury (led by Murdoch Children’s Research Institute).
Development and evaluation of a program for parents of children with a serious illness or injury (led by the Parenting Research Centre).

To identify the psychosocial risk factors, 300 families will take part in a survey over three years. Parents, children and the medical team will answer questions about the parent and child’s wellbeing and the impact of the illness or injury on the family.

The parent program, Take a Breath, incorporates an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy approach. Take a Breath has been piloted with parents of children with cancer or cardiac disease. The pilot results have demonstrated that the program was both highly acceptable and useful for parents. It will now be evaluated more broadly to determine its effectiveness in supporting parents of children with other serious childhood illnesses or injuries.