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My Early Relational Trust-Informed Learning (MERTIL) for Parents: A study protocol for a brief, universal, online,

Jessica Opie1, Leesa Hooker2,3, Tanudja Gibson1

  • 1School of Psychology & Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia.

Plos One
|March 17, 2023
PubMed

Insights

Early relational trauma impacts infant development, but is modifiable. A new online program, MERTIL for Parents, aims to improve parental knowledge of relational trust and infant wellbeing, with pilot studies beginning in 2023.

Area of Science:

  • Child Development
  • Parental Mental Health
  • Trauma-Informed Care

Background:

  • Early relational health is crucial for child development.
  • Relational trauma in parent-infant dyads can negatively impact infants.
  • Early relational trauma is identifiable and treatable.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To develop and evaluate MERTIL for Parents, an online, evidence-based parenting program.
  • To enhance parental knowledge of relational trust and its significance for infant development.
  • To assess the feasibility and efficacy of a universal preventative online program for parental and relational wellbeing.

Main Methods:

  • Mixed methods, uncontrolled, repeated measures design.
  • Recruitment of 48 Australian Maternal and Child Health (MCH) practitioners to recruit 480 parents with children aged 0-5 years.
  • Data collection via surveys and focus groups at multiple time points, including socioemotional assessments and feasibility reports.

Main Results:

  • Maternal and Child Health nurses reported confidence in identifying and responding to relational trauma after initial training.
  • Program evaluations indicated a need for improved parent referral options, leading to the development of MERTIL for Parents.
  • Pilot studies commencing March 2023 will assess practitioner and parent perspectives on program feasibility and efficacy.

Conclusions:

  • The MERTIL for Parents online program offers a low-cost, accessible resource for early intervention.
  • Universal preventative online programs targeting parental and relational wellbeing hold significant potential.
  • This study protocol outlines the implementation of a pilot study to gather crucial data on the program's feasibility and efficacy.
Abstract

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