Family Wellbeing Research

What are the key barriers & facilitators to implementing & engaging with toddler parenting programmes?

We're working on a qualitative evaluation of 'Incredible Years Toddler' 👶 in Bradford to help work that out. We're already analysing our interview data, so look out for our findings!

Up to 85,000 women may have had postnatal depression last year, analysis finds The Royal College of Psychiatrists warned the conditions can be ‘truly devastating’ if left untreated.

“Postnatal depression is far more common than many people realise and can have a devastating impact on mothers, babies and families if left untreated.” Dr Trudi Seneviratne, Royal College of Psychiatrists

Read more: www.irvinetimes.com/news/nationa...

One-stop family hubs to be opened in all English council areas Government announces £500m project to provide single-point of access for health, education and wellbeing services

But for this to work, we must keep parents at the heart. Services only make a difference if they’re accessible, welcoming, and rooted in relationships.

#BestStart #FamilyHubs #HomeStartUK #EarlyYears #FamilySupport

www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

📢Calling clinicians working in #perinatal mental health settings..
Can you spare a few mins to help with research for a Clinical Psychology thesis? All you have to do is share your views & experience of parent-infant relationships assessment in perinatal settings.
More info: bit.ly/4lTkSqS

New report 📢 We've also published a feasibility study looking at the Southwark Fathers Group, an intervention developed by @lb-southwark.bsky.social that aims to support fathers to be more engaged in their children's lives and in CSC involvement 👨‍👧

📝 By Anna Freud

📄 tinyurl.com/kjjc84vz

Celebrating Qualitative Research Conference 2025 The Celebrating Qualitative Research Conference 2025 aims to provide a platform for York researchers to reflect on research and development, synthesise and apply knowledge and best practices in qualit...

The Celebrating Qualitative Research Conference 2025 is taking place next week and there's still time to register 😀 One of the organising team members, @claunader.bsky.social, is one of our wonderful HRC Postdoctoral Fellows www.york.ac.uk/business-soc...

Its Infant Mental Health Awareness Week & we're asking policymakers, commissioners & service planners, 'Who is holding the baby?'
We're stating the week at 1pm today with a webinar to launch our new #Whoisholdingthebaby report.
Last tickets👉 bit.ly/43OF71S #IMHAW2025

Spending time together in green spaces can positively influence adult #mentalhealth and #InfantMentalHealth, and nature-based interventions can help facilitate this 🌿🌳🍃

We are excited to be in the final stages of writing our Scoping Review during #InfantMentalHealthAwareness week. Coming soon! 🎉

Today we've launched new research which shows a growing number of parent-infant relationship teams across the UK. But in many areas, specialist support is still not available.

Find out more & help us ask #Whoisholdingthebaby?’ this #IMHAW2025 👉bit.ly/43ys30y

It's #InfantMentalHealthAwareness week, and #InfantMentalHealth is at the heart of our SPIRE project 💕.

Supporting conversations around parent-infant relationships is crucial to support #IMH in the #First1000Days. Watch this space for more information about SPIRE coming soon! #IMHAW2025

White graphic with purple text that reads Infant Mental Health Awareness Week with a graphic of purple baby feet with hearts. There is an orange circle with a photo of a baby sat on his mum's knee smiling, she is looking at him. At the bottom is the Home-Start logo and the IMHAW logo.

Today is the start of #InfantMentalHealthAwarenessWeek 💜

An important week to us at Home-Start that aims to raise awareness of infant mental health and the importance of early intervention support. 

#IMHAW2025 #MentalHealthMatters #InfantMentalHealth

Two illustrations of parents with children. Text reads: Perinatal loneliness. New parents are at an increased risk of loneliness, which adversely affects parental and infant health and well-being.

New parents are at high risk for loneliness. 💔

@ruthndwrites.bsky.social has led researchers, practitioners and people with lived experience to write a consensus statement exploring what we know about loneliness, and directions for research, policy and practice: bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjo...

'This workshop was bright and beautiful’: experiences of coproducing images to improve accessibility. Led by public contributors Shakirat Kekere-Ekun, Joanne Lloyd, Clara Martins de Barros, Eleanor Philpotts & Shaz Taylor, working with @katemorto.bsky.social journals.uclpress.co.uk/r4a/article/...

👋 Meet the team 👋

@kate-mooney.bsky.social is a Research Fellow in Epidemiology & Evaluations Methods, and is interested in research that aims to investigate & reduce inequalities in children's early years outcomes ⚖️. Read more about Kate's research here: www.york.ac.uk/healthscienc...

@ypmh.bsky.social @comicresearch.bsky.social @nestauk.bsky.social @arc-yharc.bsky.social @better-start.bsky.social @sarah-blower.bsky.social @kate-mooney.bsky.social @teachprimarymag.bsky.social

An assessment of the teacher completed ‘Early Years Foundation Stage Profile’ as a routine measure of child developmental health The routine measurement of children’s developmental health varies across educational settings and systems. The Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP) is a routinely recorded measure of a child’s...

#EYFSP #childdevelopment #earlyyears #itemresponsetheory
journals.plos.org/plosone/arti... (5/5)

An image showing the range of EYFSP total scores, and which children would be marked as a 0 (did not meet the GLD, blue), or a 1 (met the GLD, in orange)

Our study has shown that the 'total score' provides more information than the GLD measure❌✔️, and that it is a valuable summary of children's development for both research & educational purposes. Read the paper in @plos.org below 👇 (4/5)

We found that the EYFSP 'total score':
• strongly predicted children's later educational & socioemotional outcomes,
• measures chilren's abilities across a range of levels,
• may be less sensitive for picking up differences between children of 'average' development 📈. (3/5)

The EYFSP contains 17 questions across 7 areas of development, and is usually scored individually as a 'Good Level of Development' ✔️, or not ❌. We tested whether the 'total score' of the EYFSP can be used to accurately measure children's development... (2/5)

Ever wondered how well we measure early childhood development in schools? 🤔 Our new study assesses a routinely recorded measure of a child's development used in schools, the Early Years Foundation Stage Profile (EYFSP)... (1/5)

What are the benefits of nature-based interventions in the early years? What are the future directions for research and practice? This amazing graphic summarises the reflections of 30 academics and practitioners who met at our conference! We will be sharing a blog soon, but enjoy this for now!

Looking forward to contributing to the conversation tomorrow, on human-nonhuman relations and links to wellbeing. Please join us if you're free and in York

The earliest years of a child’s life lay the groundwork for everything that follows.
We believe in nurturing those foundations with love, care, and support, because when we invest in early childhood, we’re investing in a brighter future for all.

Also happy to do this with Masters (and PhDs) outside of the Psychology department @ybri-uoy.bsky.social @uoy-sociology.bsky.social @familywellbeinguoy.bsky.social @uoylangling.bsky.social @uoyenvironment.bsky.social @uoyeducation.bsky.social ⬇️

Reflecting on parent-infant relationships: a practitioner’s guide to starting conversations

Last year, some guidance and conversation prompts were published aiming to support professionals to start these conversations. In our study SPIRE, we want to speak to parents/caregivers, and practitioners to find out if the guidance is being used, and if it's helpful - www.gov.uk/government/p...

an outline of both of a parents hands together in the shape of a triangle with the outline of the sole of a baby's feet in the triangle.

In the first 2 years of a baby’s life, loving and responsive relationships with parents/caregivers help babies feel safe & understood, giving them the best start in life. But, many parents/caregivers are not asked about their bond with their baby, meaning they may not get the support they need.

Kelly also works on ComBAT, a 5-year research programme that will develop, implement and evaluate Behavioural Activation (BA), for young people aged 12-18 years with low mood in the community. Read more about Kelly’s research here: www.york.ac.uk/healthscienc...

👋 Meet the team 👋

@kellyhollingsworth.bsky.social our Research Assistant is interested in mental health research that supports infants, children and young people in getting access to support they need. In our team, she supports on the evaluation of guidance to support parent-infant relationships.

Why does 'Adolescence' hit a nerve? | BPS Dr Nihara Krause MBE, Consultant Clinical Psychologist and Chartered Member of the British Psychological Society, watches the Netflix series; plus the forensic psychology perspective, from Dr Louise B...

An additional perspective on the Netflix drama 'Adolescence', from forensic psychologists, now added here:

www.bps.org.uk/psychologist...

Simona is passionate about participatory methods, narrative methods, and collaborative knowledge-making. Read more about Simona’s research here: www.york.ac.uk/healthscienc...