Clinical Assessment of the Parent-Infant Relationship: A Global Survey of Clinician Attitudes and Practice

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Pavitra Aran1, Andrew J Lewis2, Stuart Watson3,4

  • 1Psychology, Murdoch University, Murdoch, Australia.

Maternal and Child Health Journal
|January 27, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Perinatal and infant mental health clinicians value assessing parent-infant relationships. However, services need improvement to better include partners and family-focused assessments for optimal PIMH care.

Area of Science:

  • Perinatal and Infant Mental Health
  • Clinical Psychology
  • Family Studies

Background:

  • Assessing the parent-infant relationship is crucial in perinatal and infant mental health (PIMH) settings.
  • Understanding clinician practices and preferences is key to improving PIMH service delivery.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the practices and preferences of PIMH clinicians regarding the assessment of the parent-infant relationship.
  • To identify discrepancies between individual clinician preferences and existing service practices.

Main Methods:

  • A global, cross-sectional survey of 321 health professionals across 16 countries was conducted.
  • The 36-item survey captured clinician and service perspectives on parent-infant relationship assessment.
  • Data were analyzed using Chi-squared tests to compare clinician and service viewpoints.

Main Results:

  • Clinicians widely support assessing parent-infant relationship quality in PIMH.
  • A dyadic assessment approach was preferred by clinicians (52.6%) over service implementation (31.7%).
  • While partner involvement is endorsed, few services offer partner-infant assessments; family-focused assessments are rare.

Conclusions:

  • There is strong clinician support for routine parent-infant relationship assessment in PIMH.
  • Enhancing PIMH services to include greater partner involvement and a family focus is recommended.
  • Aligning service practices with clinician preferences can optimize PIMH care.
Abstract

Keywords:
Father–infantInfant mental healthMother–infantParent–infant relationship qualityPerinatalSignificance statement

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