Pathways to improved prevention of mental disorder within a randomized controlled trial: Process Evaluation of Parent Interventions from Patient and Practitioner Perspectives (PREPARE)

Transdiagnostic mentalization-based intervention (the LIGHTHOUSE program) for parents with mental illness in outpatient psychiatric treatment: a randomized clinical trial (LIGHTHOUSE-RCT)

This PhD project is a process evaluation of a larger randomized controlled trial investigating the effect of the Lighthouse MBT Parenting Program (LPP), a 12-week preventive, mentalization-based group intervention offered to parents within the Mental Health Services of the Capital Region of Denmark. The aim of the LPP intervention is to reduce stress and psychological vulnerability and to enhance mentalization capacity in vulnerable parents, thereby improving the parent-child relationship and promoting the child’s development and well-being.

Preventive interventions targeting vulnerable parents in psychiatric settings have shown promising effects but can be challenging to implement in practice. To ensure the effectiveness of complex interventions, it is therefore necessary to conduct a systematic evaluation of the underlying barriers and facilitating factors that may influence the successful implementation of parent-focused interventions within psychiatric care.

Aim

The aim of this process evaluation is to examine the implementation of the LPP intervention, including:

1. parents experience of mechanisms of change related to parents treatment outcomes,
2. acceptability of the LPP-intervention from a parent perspective,
3. practitioners delivery and fidelity of the LPP intervention,
4. barriers and facilitators for implementation and potential for future scalability of LPP within a Danish psychiatric services.

Methods 

The process evaluation includes a combined qualitative and quantitative investigation of the LPP intervention in a Danish psychiatric context. The project will incorporate perspectives from parents randomized to either the LPP intervention or care as usual (a family consultation involving the child), as well as from involved practitioners. The project will be conducted at the Psychotherapeutic Centre Stolpegaard in close collaboration with Jamie Murdoch from King's College London, Michelle Sleed from the Anna Freud Centre, and Anna Georg from the University of Tübingen.

Contribution

This project contributes to the research field as one of the first evaluations of a preventive intervention targeting psychologically vulnerable parents in a Danish context compared to care as usual. In the long term, the project’s findings may support the implementation of preventive initiatives for psychologically vulnerable parents, with the potential to not only improve parental mental health but also positively impact the well-being and development of their children.