Background

The Spectrum Centre is involved in assessing the usefulness of a web-based parenting programme that is tailored to meet the needs of parents with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder. People with Bipolar Disorder may find that their changes in mood make the delivery of consistent parenting more difficult than for parents without mental health problems. Traditional parenting interventions do not address the particular needs of people with Bipolar Disorder, and psychological interventions do not necessarily focus on parenting skills. Therefore, the Integrated Bipolar Parenting Intervention (IBPI) developed by the Spectrum Centre combines a parenting programme (Triple P) that consists of positive parenting techniques with strategies that are helpful for managing bipolar.

Study Aims
There is a great deal of evidence to show that Triple P has been helpful for many parents across the world and a previous pilot study has found that there were significant improvements in both child behaviour and parenting for families with Bipolar Disorder who used Triple P Online.

At present, we would like to find out more about the strengths and weaknesses of delivering this information in a single package. Participants will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: those who have access to IBPI at the beginning of the study and those who have access to IBPI after a 12 month period. We will ask participants to complete some online and telephone questionnaires at 5 time points across a 12-month period. To evaluate whether IBPI improves behaviour and reduces parenting stress, we will compare results of those who have access to IBPI with those who do not. We will also explore children's views of family life before and after taking part in IBPI by interviewing a small number of participants' children. This study is funded by a grant awarded by the Medical Research Council for a two-year period and is based at Lancaster University.