Relationships in Good Hands Trial: Clinical and Cost-effectiveness of Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy for Abused and Neglected Young Children With Maltreatment-associated Problems and Their Parents

The research question is: Can the research recommend better ways for social care and health services to work work together to help adoptive and foster families? Can a therapy called DDP improve the mental health of 5-12 year old fostered or adopted children? Is DDP worth the commitment families need to give to it - and the extra cost to the services that deliver it? More than half of adopted or fostered children in the UK have mental health problems including ADHD (i.e. hyperactivity, impulsive behaviour and poor concentration), antisocial behaviour and problems with relationships. Abused and neglected children are more likely than others to have problems in school, become homeless, get involved in crime and even die young (e.g. from suicide), yet there are no fully tested treatments for such complex mental health problems. This is a huge problem because early treatment could greatly improve children's life chances - and reduce strain on health and social care budgets.

There is a Dyadic Developmental Psychotherapy (DDP) a parent-child therapy that takes around 20 sessions and focusses on "Playfulness, Acceptance, Curiosity and Empathy". There is not yet available really good evidence for or against it: many UK therapists like DDP, but it is a big commitment for families: once a week for about six months children will need time off school, the parents will need time off work - and this can be hard to explain to school friends, colleagues and bosses. Research team doesn't just need to know if DDP improves children's mental health - they also need to know if the commitment needed is worth it for families and whether the costs to services outweigh the benefits.

In PHASE 1 the research team will find out whether DDP can work smoothly in the three different settings where it is usually delivered: the NHS, Social Care and Private Practice. Many abused children need other medical and psychiatric support so, the research will assess whether children can get any additional assessments or referrals they may need .

In PHASE 2, the research team plans to find out if it is practically possible to run a high quality trial of DDP. This phase will involve 60 families to find out if they are happy to take part (whether offered DDP or usual services). If all goes to plan, these 60 families will contribute to the final results, along with the 180 families involved in the next PHASE 3 when the research team will test whether DDP is better than usual services and, if it is, whether the improvements in child mental health outweigh the costs.

What impact will the research have? This study will make recommendations about how services should work together to help abused and neglected children and their families. If the researcher team finds that DDP is worth the time and money, it could improve the mental health of abused and neglected children across the world.