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“What support would you find helpful?” The relationship between treatment expectations, therapeutic engagement, and clinical outcomes in parent–infant psychotherapy
Author(s) -
Ransley Rachel,
Sleed Michelle,
Baradon Tessa,
Fonagy Peter
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
infant mental health journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.693
H-Index - 75
eISSN - 1097-0355
pISSN - 0163-9641
DOI - 10.1002/imhj.21787
Subject(s) - psychology , mental health , clinical psychology , developmental psychology , psychotherapist
The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of pretreatment expectations on clinical outcomes and engagement in Parent–Infant Psychotherapy (PIP). Sixty‐one mothers who were experiencing mental health difficulties and who were receiving PIP with their young infants participated in the study. A mixed‐methodology was used to examine participants’ expectations through transformation content analysis of pretreatment interviews; recurring themes were classified and quantified. Further statistical analyses explored relationships between the quantified themes of parental expectations and clinical outcomes and engagement in treatment. No significant correlation was found between expectations and engagement. One of the six clinical outcomes significantly correlated with parental expectations. Improved reflective functioning (RF) was predicted by participants describing expectations of wanting to improve their parent–infant relationship through the treatment, and expressing concerns about discussing their past experiences. These two expectations predicted improvements in RF independently and when combined. These results indicate that PIP may be more effective for some mothers than others and that assessing future clients’ expectations before beginning PIP may be beneficial.