Exploring factors in parental understanding of early psychosis

This portfolio thesis consists of three parts: a systematic literature review, an empirical paper and appendices. The thesis considers the factors influencing the understanding of parents in early psychosis.Part one is a systematic literature review exploring the factors that influence the experience of stigma of parents of a child with psychosis. The review critically evaluated and synthesised the findings of twelve qualitative papers. The NICE quality checklist was used to evaluate the quality of each paper and Narrative Synthesis was used to synthesise the data. The results demonstrated the wide-reaching effects of stigma. They also highlighted a need to provide caregivers with support, as those with more support had a reduced experience of stigma. The clinical implications of the findings and potential avenues for future research are explored.Part two is an empirical study of parents‘ experience of making sense of ARMS through family interventions. Seven parents were recruited and shared their experiences through semi-structured interviews. The data gathered were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Three superordinate and seven subordinate themes emerged from the data. The findings demonstrated that parents appeared to share a similar experience of sense-making, which continued following their involvement with services. The findings of the study are discussed in the context of previous literature and the implications and recommendations for future research are considered.Part three consists of appendices relating to both the systematic literature review and empirical paper. This includes a reflective account of the research process and a statement regarding the epistemological position of the researcher