91̽»¨

Study overview

Behavioural and mental illness has become a public health crisis. There is a strong link between parent and child wellbeing.

Incredible Years (IY) group-based parent programmes aim to promote social and emotional wellbeing in children aged 0 to 12 years.

Reliable evidence for IY children over 3 years demonstrates increased child social and emotional wellbeing, fewer behavioural difficulties and, importantly, a positive impact on parent wellbeing – a major risk factor for healthy child development.

However, few programmes and little evidence exist for the 0 to 2 year age range. So, we aim to investigate whether IY-Infant and IY-Toddler (0 to 2 years) programmes are effective (and cost-effective) in enhancing child social and emotional wellbeing at 20 months of age compared to usual care received.

Dr Tracey Bywater and colleagues from the University of York, together with collaborators from the University of 91̽»¨ Clinical Trials Research Unit (CTRU), the University of Plymouth, Lancashire Care Foundation NHS Trust, the University of Central Lancashire, and the National University of Ireland Maynooth, have been awarded over £1.8 million by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Public Health Research (PHR) programme to conduct the E-SEE Trial.

An 18 month pilot study is currently taking place across two areas in the UK and will be followed by a 30 month main trial.

Parents and co-parents of children aged 0 to 2 months are being recruited and allocated at random either to receive usual care or to receive access to some part of the Incredible Years programme.

All families on the study will be asked to complete surveys and be videoed playing with their child during visits to their home by researchers.

Those allocated to receive a level of the Incredible Years programme will receive different levels/types of the programme depending on their level of need, which will be assessed by completion of a mental health questionnaire.

Those allocated to receive Incredible Years will all get an Incredible Years (IY) book, and may be offered either or both of the IY-Infant (8 to 10 weeks; 2 hours per week) and IY-Toddler (12 weeks; 2 hours per week) programmes, depending on the results of the questionnaire.

Involvement of families in the study will last 18 months (until the child is 20 months old) and at the last home visit parents and co-parents will be asked to complete the final surveys, including some in relation to the child’s social and emotional well-being.

Linked projects will take place during the pilot study and the main trial to consider how best Incredible Years could be offered in the future, and to compare the results of our research with other similar research in the UK and abroad.

You can find out more about this study by visiting  or clicking the E-SEE logo in the top right corner.

This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Public Health Research (NIHR PHR) Programme (project number 13/93/10).

The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the NIHR PHR Programme, NIHR, NHS or the Department of Health.

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Study staff

Name	Role	Organisation
Dr Tracey Bywater	Chief Investigator	Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Dr Vashti Berry	Process Evaluation and Service Design	University of Exeter
Dr Sarah Blower	Trial Manager (University of York)	Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Daniel Hind	CTRU Assistant Director	Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of 91̽»¨
Dr Nicole Gridley	Trial Coordinator (University of York)	Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Prof Kath Kiernan	Comparative analyses	Department of Social Policy & Social Work, University of York
Dr Amanda Loban	Data Manager	Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of 91̽»¨
Dr Amanda Mason-Jones	Referral pathways and health data collection	Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Dr Sinead McGilloway	Comparative analyses	Department of Psychology, Maynooth University
Kirsty McKendrick	Trial Manager (University of 91̽»¨)	Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of 91̽»¨
Prof Kate Pickett	Comparative analyses	Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Dr Kate Rhee	Incredible Years expertise	Lancashire Care Foundation NHS Trust
Dr Gerry Richardson	Senior Health Economist	Centre for Health Economics, University of York
Dr Dawn Teare	Senior Statistician	Clinical Trials Research Unit, University of 91̽»¨
Dr Louise Tracey	PPI Lead	Department of Health Sciences, University of York
Simon Walker	Health Economist	Centre for Health Economics, University of York
Dr Karen Whittaker	Referral pathways	School of Health, University of Central Lancashire