Parents’ subjective experience of an attachment-focused group-based intervention: an exploratory study

Introduction: Research has highlighted the increasing need for prevention and early intervention approaches for children who experience adversity. There is growing support for attachment-focussed interventions targeting the parent-child relationship in supporting optimal child development. In 2017, an area-based initiative aimed at improving outcomes for children experiencing disadvantage commenced the delivery of the Circle of Security- Parenting intervention to parents in the community. The current study aimed to explore the subjective experience of parents’ engaging in the COS-P programme. Method: A qualitative design was utilised involving the completion of semi-structured interviews with participants. The researcher interviewed ten parents who participated in the COS-P intervention. Interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim for analysis. Results: Analysis using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) generated three phases of a journey within participant narratives. These were: Group as safe base for selfdiscovery; Understanding my child in a new way; and New beginnings; reaching our potential together. Discussion: This study provided a comprehensive account of the phases of a journey that parents move through in their participation in the COS-P intervention. The findings are discussed in context of existing literature. Implications for policy, education, clinical practice and future research are discussed and outlined.