Perinatal mental illness Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Conditions
Interventions
People taking part in the study will be divided into two groups. A computer will decide at random if participants are in Group 1 or Group 2.
Group1 will receive 6 Baby Communication and Play Session
Sponsors
City St George's, University of London
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
16 Years to 65 Years
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: The study will include mothers and birthing persons who: 1. Are using community perinatal mental health or parent-infant menta health services 2. Are experiencing moderate to severe non-psychotic mental illness (score of =15 on the CORE-10 (a short form of the CORE-OM,Evans et al,2002)) 3. Meet diagnostic criteria for at least one of the five most common non-psychotic illnesses treated by perinatal mental health services: Generalised anxiety disorder (GAD),Major Depressive Disorder (MDD),Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD),Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and Personality Disorder (PD). disorder (National Maternity and Perinatal Audit,2024; Coates et al.,2018; Durrani & Cantwell,2009; Howard et al.,2022). Maternal mental health diagnosis will be ascertained based on clinical diagnosis and confirmed by a researcher administered MINI International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI; Sheehan et al.,1998),and/or scoring above threshold on at least one personality disorder screening tool (McLean Screening Instrument Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI-BPD) =7 (Zanarini et al,2003); or The Level of Personality Functioning Scale – Brief Form (LPFS-BF) = 31(Tongyao et al,2025) 4. Are experiencing parent-infant relationship difficulties,indexed by: 4.1. Self-reporting bonding difficulties (scoring = 12 on the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) (Brockington et al,2006) and/or 4.2. A specialist perinatal mental health clinician identifies insensitive mother-infant interaction corresponding to an Ainsworth Maternal Sensitivity Scale (AMSS) score = 5 (Ainsworth,1969). Ainsworth Sensitivity scale ratings will be verified by trained researchers based on videos of participating MABP interacting with their children. These dual criteria have been established based on evidence that the two types of difficulties often do not align (Nath et al.,2020; Albanese et al.,2019) 5. Have parental responsibility for and unsupervised contact with a child aged 3-12 months at intervention initiation. 6. Are capable of giving informed consent 7. Are aged 16 to 65 years
Exclusion criteria
Exclusion criteria: 1. Families where a sibling or co-parent is participating in the trial 2. Families who have currently or previously experienced VIPP or VIG intervention 3. MABP who have English language or learning difficulties that are sufficiently severe to prevent them completing study measures even with assistance 4. MABP who have a significant visual impairment involving both eyes 5. MABP who are currently or in the past month experiencing acute symptoms of psychosis or mania identified by a score of =1 on the psychosis module of the MINI[UH32.1][KB32.2] (participants will complete the screening questions 1-7 of the Psychotic Disorders Subscale on the basis of symptoms within the last month) and/or a score of =10 on the Patient Mania Questionnaire -9 (PMQ-9;Cerimele et al.,2021)
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Maternal sensitivity measured using Ainsworth scale at baseline and 10 months | — |
Secondary
| Measure | Time frame |
|---|---|
| Maternal non-intrusiveness measured using observer-rated Ainsworth Scale at baseline, 10 months post-baseline;Maternal bonding problems measured using maternal self-report using the Postpartum Bonding Questionnaire (PBQ) at baseline, 10 months post-baseline;Maternal parenting confidence measured using maternal self-report using the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale (KPCS) at baseline, 10 months post-baseline;Maternal mental illness severity measured using CORE-10 questionnaire at baseline, 10 months post-baseline;Maternal well-being measured using maternal self-report using the Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWBS) at baseline, 10 months post-baseline;Child emotion regulation difficulties measured using observer-rated emotional reactivity during a frustration task at baseline, 10 months post-baseline;Child emotional and behavioural problems measured using maternal report using Regulatory Capacity and Negative Emotionality subscales of the IBQ-R Short Form at 5 months and BITSEA at 10, 17 and 29 months post-baseline | — |
Countries
England, United Kingdom
Contacts
Public ContactKirsten;Una Barnicot;Hutton
;
Outcome results
None listed