title: Understanding conduct disorder: The ways in which mothers attempt to make sense of their children's behaviour.
abstract: 'Disruptive behaviour disorders' are the most common reason for referral to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS). Current treatment guidelines focus on parent-training programmes. Difficulties are often reported when engaging families, with parental attributions and attitudes towards help-seeking proposed as influential factors. Previous research has tended to privilege pre-existing frameworks; this study utilised qualitative methods to add to the current understanding of the ways in which parents make sense of their children's behaviour. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with six mothers, recruited through CAMHS. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) revealed four master themes: 'Understanding the Emotional Child', 'The Emotional Parent', 'Getting Help' and 'The Journey'. Participants used a variety of explanations in order to make sense of their children's behaviour, including the impact of loss and trauma. Help-seeking was associated with feelings of shame, and services were often viewed as inconsistent and stigmatising. In contrast, positive experiences were those which were characterised as being non-judgemental, normalising and took into account the wider family context, including mothers' own emotional needs. These findings were discussed in relation to existing research and implications for clinical practice.
authors.affiliation: South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust, UK Rhiannon.Lewis@swlstg-tr-nhs.uk.
authors.forename: Rhiannon M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Lewis
authors.affiliation: University of Surrey, UK.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Petch
authors.affiliation: East London NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Naomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: South West London and St Georges Mental Health NHS Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Simone
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fox
authors.affiliation: Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
authors.forename: Catrina E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Craig
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D019955:Conduct Disorder / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D012752:Shame
keywords: Conduct disorder; Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis; oppositional defiant disorder; parenting; qualitative research