LIGHTHOUSE-RCT: Preventive Intervention for Parents with Mental Disorders

LIGHTHOUSE-RCT is a research project aimed at reducing psychological distress among parents with mental disorders receiving treatment in adult mental health service. The project also aims to promote wellbeing and prevent distress among their children. The research project is a collaboration between Psychotherapeutic Centre Stolpegård, the Centre of Excellence in Early Intervention and Family Studies at the University of Copenhagen, and Anna Freud at University College London.

The Lighthouse Parenting Program is a parenting program targeting vulnerable parents, such as those struggeling with mental disorders or substance abuse issues. The program is developed by Gerry Byrne from the Anna Freud Centre and the University of Oxford. The purpose of the Lighthouse Program is to reduce psychological distress in parents, strengthen the parent-child relationship, and enhance children’s wellbeing and development.

The program focuses on improving parents' ability to mentalise (reflective functioning) - the capacity to understand and reflect on both their own and their child’s mental states, such as thoughts, feelings, and needs. Reflective functioning can be compared to a muscle that grows stronger through training in the program. Reflective functioning is crucial for a healthy parent-child relationship and for children’s wellbeing and development. However, research shows that parents with severe mental disorders may struggle to mentalise themselves and their children, which can impact the children’s wellbeing. It is well-documented that children of parents with mental disorders are often in a vulnerable position and are more likely to experience advisesity compared to other children.

The Lighthouse Parenting Program has previously been evaluated in pilot studies, including with vulnerable parents in England and parents with mental disorders in Germany, where it has shown promising results.

The project's four main objectives

1. To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of preventive interventions for parents with mental disorders, focusing on child outcomes (e.g., development of mental disorders, quality of life, socio-emotional development, etc.).

2. To test Lighthouse as a supplement to standard treatment in adult psychiatry for parents with various mental disorders.

3. To compare the effect of the Lighthouse Parenting Program with the existing support program for adult patients, who are parents, in Mental Health Services of the Capital Region of Denmark.

4.  To investigate and evaluate the feasibility and implementation of the program in adult mental health service. 

If the program shows positive effects, the ambition is to implement it across psychiatric regions.