A comparison of parenting stress and children’s internalising, externalising and attachment-related behaviour difficulties in UK adoptive and non-adoptive families

Harris-Waller, Jayne; Granger, Charlotte; Gurney-Smith, Ben

doi:10.1177/0308575916667911

Cited by 21 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 29 publications

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“…Parents identified with feeling so overwhelmed they were willing to try DDP despite it being relatively unknown to them. This fits with recent research showing that although adoptive parents report increased stress and perceived child difficulties, very few were receiving service input (Harris-Waller et al, 2016). In the same way, parents initially felt sceptical about how DDP could help and with a limited evidence base to date for DDP therapy (Turner-Halliday et al, 2014), it is reasonable that at this stage, parents and therapist will have had little information about this to discuss before treatment began.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

“…The therapy was described as ‘a journey’ which began with an initial ‘ cry for help ’, linking to the emotional, behavioural and relational difficulties we may expect to see in children who have experienced difficult or disruptive early attachments, which are felt by their adoptive parents (Harris-Waller, Granger, & Gurney-Smith, 2016; Mikulincer & Shaver, 2013). Parents identified with feeling so overwhelmed they were willing to try DDP despite it being relatively unknown to them.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Adoptive parents’ experiences of dyadic developmental psychotherapy

Wingfield

Gurney-Smith²

2018

Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry

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Dyadic developmental psychotherapy (DDP) is an attachment-focused therapy frequently used with adoptive and foster families. While the evidence base for DDP is building, national guidance has called for further trials and qualitative evidence. This study aimed to understand the experience of adoptive parents who have completed DDP therapy. Semi-structured interviews with 12 adoptive parents were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Four superordinate themes were identified: (1) increased understanding, (2) ‘It’s a different method of parenting generally’, (3) the DDP journey and (4) ‘It’s a shared kind of experience you go through and come out together’. Parents felt they had increased insight into their child’s mind and how to better support their child. They felt DDP was a good fit to their unique situations and it appeared to promote acceptance. The DDP journey started with parents feeling uncertainty and questioning the effectiveness of DDP. However, generally parents became committed to the therapy once they saw change and expressed fear and sadness at ending. Parents acknowledged the dyadic nature of DDP, feeling it helped build trust and security and supported co-regulation. Parents also acknowledged the therapist’s role in conveying the core DDP principles. Further implications for practice and research are highlighted.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 91%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Adoptive parents’ experiences of dyadic developmental psychotherapy

Wingfield

Gurney-Smith²

2018

Clin Child Psychol Psychiatry

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“…However, in the UK, it has rarely been used to explore the stress related to caring for children in care and adopted from care (McSherry, Fargas Malet and Weatherall, 2013;Harris-Waller et al, 2016).…”

Section: The Parenting Stress Index -Short-formmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): A Proxy Measure of Parenting Stress

McSherry

Malet

Weatherall

2018

The British Journal of Social Work

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The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) (Goodman, 1997) is a brief behavioural screening questionnaire for three to 16 years olds. It is commonly used in clinical practice and research, particularly in the UK, and is completed by parents, carers and teachers. The measure was utilised in a cross-sectional phase of a longitudinal study of children in care, namely the Care Pathways and Outcomes Study, alongside a measure of parenting stress, the Parenting Stress Index-Short Form (PSI-SF) (Abidin, 1995), with a sub-sample of children (n=72) aged nine to fourteen, and their parents and carers. A Pearson Correlation Coefficient indicated a strong positive correlation between these two measures (r= .71), with normal and abnormal scores on one measure corresponding to normal and abnormal scores on the other. Consequently, it is argued that the SDQ may be considered a proxy measure of parenting stress, with scores in the clinical range being highly predictive of clinical levels of parenting stress. As such, SDQ-informed interventions for adopted children and children in care, and others where behavioural problems have been detected, should be developed to include a consideration of the needs of parents and carers, specifically in relation to reducing levels of parenting stress.

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“…This profile is characteristic of the children referred to Adoptionplus. More recent investigations demonstrate strong relationships between the degree of child-related difficulties, including externalising problems and attachment-related issues, and the level of parenting stress experienced by adopters (Glossop, 2013;Harris-Waller, Granger and Gurney-Smith, 2016). Additional diagnoses such as foetal alcohol spectrum disorders (Phillips, 2015) and post-adoption depression (Payne, et al, 2010) can be a further source of stress and demands.…”

Section: Mindfulness Parenting Stress and Adoptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Minding the gap’: developing mindfulness for adoption

Gurney-Smith¹,

Downing²,

Kidd³

et al. 2017

Adoption & Fostering

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This article discusses the rationale for mindfulness as an intervention in addressing parenting stress in adoptive parents and describes the process of its implementation in a voluntary adoption agency. Burgeoning interest in mindfulness in the public and scientific domains, alongside the presenting needs of adoptive families, has led to an appreciation of this intervention to meet the particular needs of adoptive parents and their children. The theoretical and research grounds for it are outlined before a description of the service is provided and supplemented with data from staff and parent groups receiving Mindfulness Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT). In the manner of ‘practice what you preach’, staff as well as adoptive parents participated in the training. Adoptive parents demonstrated improvements in mindfulness and compassion; staff showed positive changes in self-compassion. There were also improvements in parenting stress for adopters. These results suggest this was a promising intervention for both the families and the agency and indicate an ongoing commitment to using it alongside other treatments. Further pointers to future service delivery, implementation and research are outlined.

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A comparison of parenting stress and children’s internalising, externalising and attachment-related behaviour difficulties in UK adoptive and non-adoptive families

Cited by 21 publications

References 29 publications

Adoptive parents’ experiences of dyadic developmental psychotherapy

Adoptive parents’ experiences of dyadic developmental psychotherapy

The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ): A Proxy Measure of Parenting Stress

‘Minding the gap’: developing mindfulness for adoption

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