The Good Start: Parenthood and emotional development among children with/at risk of CP
Cerebral Palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability among children and often occurs during pregnancy and at birth. The research project will shed light on the psychological aspects of living with CP as a new family through two empirical projects and literature studies.
The research project works with providing knowledge and experiences that can inform the development of early psychological interventions that can support the attachment in children with CP and the mental wellbeing of their parents.
The research projects are: 1) a longitudinal study that aims to investigate risk and protective factors for parent-infant interactions, 2) investigating an attachment-based parent-intervention (VIPP-SD) in a pilot project. Further, systematic literature studies are in progress to shed light on the existing knowledge about children with CP’s social and emotional development and evidence regarding attachment-based interventions.
In this research project, families with an infant at high risk of CP will be examined three times during first 15 months of the child’s life. The purpose of the study is to shed light on how early parent-infant interactions and parenthood might be affected by the risk of CP and to identify parental and child risk and protective factors. The families will be compared to a control-group consisting of families with children at low risk of CP, children born without pregnancy- and/or birth-complications. All families are being followed until the child is four years old to shed light on how early parent-infant interactions affect the socio-emotional development of the child. The project runs from January 2021 until December 2024 and is carried out in a collaboration between the Elsass Foundation and the Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen.
If you are interested in participating as a control family (birth without complications) please contact research assistant, Julie Hansen, mail: julie.hansen@psy.ku.dk, MOB: +45 40 49 89 86.
You can also read more about the project in an article here.
VIPP-CP: Video-feedback Intervention to Promote Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline – a pilot study of acceptability and adaption to families with children with Cerebral palsy
This research project is a pilot study investigating the feasibility of an existing video-based parenting program (VIPP-SD) for families with CP. As a part of the project, 20 families will be recruited to test the intervention. We will systematically investigate: a) parental acceptability of the program, b) whether and how the program can and should be adapted so it is targeting the specific challenges parents of children with CP experiences, and c) the effect of the intervention on parental interaction behaviour.
The project starts in August 2022 in collaboration with the Elsass Foundation. If you wish to participate please contact principal investigator Katrine Røhder, MOB: +45 31 43 26 79.
Besides the empirical projects we are currently working on two systematic literature studies in the research field: ”Socio-emotional Development in Children with Cerebral Palsy: a Scoping Review” and ”Attachment-based interventions to Parents with Children with neurodevelopmental disorders”.
It is possible to join the research project as an elective-subject-student. If you are interested contact Katrine Røhder, MOB: +45 31 43 26 79.
Staff
Researchers at the Department of Psychology:
| Name | Title | Job responsibilities | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Katrine Røhder | Associate Professor | Parent-child interaction, cerebral palsy, perinatal mental health, caregiving representations, infant socio-emotional development, early interventions |
|
| Julie Enkebølle Hansen | PhD Student | Infant socio-emotional development, infant quality of life, parent-infant interactions, cerebral palsy, perinatal mental health |
|
Supported by
Project: The Good Start
Period: 2021 - 2025
Contact
Katrine Røhder
Assistant Professor
E-mail
Affiliated researchers:
| Name | Title | Phone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maria Willerslev-Olsen | Research fellow, the Elsass Foundation | +45 22 83 40 05 | |
| Jens Bo Nielsen | Professor at UCPH and Head of Research in the Elsass Foundation | +45 35 32 74 50 | |
| Gorm Greisen | Professor of Paediatrics, Rigshospitalet | +45 40 46 07 47 |