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Parent-child relationships: developing a brief attachment-screening tool

Beverley Bailey1

  • 1Devon Primary Care Trust.

Community Practitioner : the Journal of the Community Practitioners' & Health Visitors' Association
|April 1, 2009
PubMed

Insights

This study developed initial items for a parent-infant attachment screening tool. Parent focus groups provided key terminology to support early relationship development and infant wellbeing.

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Public Health
  • Psychology

Background:

  • Parent-infant attachment is crucial for infant emotional health and wellbeing.
  • Difficulties in parent-child relationships can have significant long-term consequences.
  • Health visitors are well-positioned to support early parent-infant relationships.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop items for a parent-to-infant attachment screening tool.
  • To identify relevant terminology describing the parent-child attachment relationship.
  • To establish a foundation for a parent-completed questionnaire.

Main Methods:

  • Conducted three focus groups with a purposive sample of 10 parents.
  • Utilized community venues within a primary care trust.
  • Analyzed transcripts for rich parental descriptions of the parent-child relationship.

Main Results:

  • Gathered qualitative data on parental experiences and language related to attachment.
  • Identified key themes and terms for inclusion in the screening tool.
  • Established the initial item pool for the parent-infant attachment tool.

Conclusions:

  • The initial stage successfully gathered essential parental terminology for tool development.
  • Further research will focus on scaling, piloting, and validating the attachment screening tool.
  • The tool aims to enhance early identification and support for parent-infant relationships.

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