The development of a brief parenting intervention to improve children's understanding of emotions: A Delphi study

Abstract Objectives Early emerging emotional and behavioural problems can have a significant adverse impact on children's wellbeing, mental health and educational outcomes that can persist through adolescence and adulthood. A growing body of research highlights children's ability to recognise and understand emotions as a transdiagnostic intervention target. Interventions aimed at helping parents support this ability in their child could lead to benefits. Therefore, the current study aimed to systematically develop a brief parenting intervention to support children's emotional understanding. Design We followed Medical Research Council (MRC) guidance for developing complex interventions and used the Delphi method to gather consensus on the content and delivery of the intervention. Methods In Round 1, interviews were conducted with academics, clinicians, parents and child and family practitioners with relevant experience. Thematic analysis of interviews generated themes and subthemes which were used to create a survey. In Round 2, this survey was shared with participants and they rated how important different potential elements of the intervention were to include in the manual. Results Round 1 interviews generated themes including practicalities, creating a safe group space and intervention content. In Round 2, all participants (response rate: 86.4%) were asked to complete the survey and results indicated all items achieved at least moderate consensus for inclusion. Conclusions How results were used to inform the intervention is discussed and implications for clinical practice addressed. This research has informed the development of a new parenting intervention which will be further researched in a feasibility trial.