Can the Parent Development Interview (PDI-RF) inform assessment in a CAMHs Parent-Infant Psychotherapy service? A qualitative study using Thematic Analysis.

The assessment is a core component of the process used by Parent-Infant Psychotherapists to ascertain the presenting issues, risks and needs of the parent/s and their infant to help decide if treatment is indicated or to make further recommendations. This study aims to determine how feasible and acceptable the Parental Development Interview (PDI) is within the routine assessment and to understand its potential as an assessment tool in the service. By applying the PDI (Aber, Slade, Berger, Bresgi, Kaplan 1985), the parent’s capacity for reflective functioning could be measured to ascertain if they can hold in mind their infant's thoughts and feelings. The objective is to incorporate the validated, manualised PDI (Aber et al. 1985) within the standard outcome measure sets currently used in NHS Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service Early Years Service. It is proposed that the PDI could provide a sensitive, nuanced qualitative measure to capture key information on parental reflective functioning and the relationship between the parent and infant. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data from six semi-structured interviews of parent participants. Findings show that parents found the PDI useful and accessible to provide insight into their relationship with their infant.