XClose

UCL Psychology and Language Sciences

Home
Menu

Research Projects

Mentalization-Based Treatment (MBT) for children in foster care

PI's: Dr Nick Midgley (Chief Investigator), Dr David Wellsted, Prof Pasco Fearon, Solange Wyatt, Sally Wood, Dr Sarah Jane Besser, Dr Kiri Jefferies-Sewell, Dr Karen Irvine

National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Research for Patient Benefit (RfPB) Programme

Approximately 60,000 children/young people are in foster care in England, with over 50% due to abuse and neglect. Consequently a large number of fostered children present with emotional and behavioural difficulties. The most effective treatment for this group is currently unknown.

The overall aim is to ascertain the effectiveness of MBT as a treatment for children in foster care presenting with emotional and behavioural difficulties.

Before embarking upon a large scale trial, this feasibility study aims to:

  • to test capacity to train mental health practitioners to an acceptable level of treatment integrity
  • to assess the feasibility of recruitment processes and uptake to the study
  • to establish acceptability and credibility of MBT as a treatment intervention for looked after children
  • to establish the feasibility and acceptability to families of conducting a randomised clinical trial
  • to establish the feasibility of collecting resource-use data, for the purpose of calculating relative cost-effectiveness; and to constrain a preliminary estimate of likely treatment efficacy effect size 

Collaborators:

Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

The University of Hertfordshire