Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health training for early years practitioners
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12724843 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Shirley Martin (0000-0001-7784-5907, corresponding author), Aoife Lynch (0000-0001-6242-1888, University College Cork), Lynn Buckley (0000-0002-4139-5876, Let’s Grow Together! Infant & Childhood Partnerships, Ireland), Eibhlín Looney (0009-0001-8832-360X), Ciara O’Toole (0000-0002-2225-420X, University College Cork) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 24 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 40-55 |
| Publication date | 2025-09-06 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Early Childhood Research (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1476-718X • E-ISSN: 1741-2927 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1177/1476718x251363726 |
| OpenAlex | W4414034998 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 25 |
The importance of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health (IECMH) in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is increasingly recognised. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an IECMH training programme designed to enhance Early Years Practitioners’ (EYPs) skills in promoting children’s social-emotional well-being and development. IECMH training aims to equip EYPs with the knowledge and capacity to support children’s ability to form interpersonal relationships, regulate emotions and improve learning environments. In 2019, Let’s Grow Together! Infant and Childhood Partnerships developed a tailored IECMH training programme for EYPs incorporating current research, principles of the national Nurture Programme and Ireland’s national early years curriculum and quality frameworks. The project aimed to make IECMH science accessible and build capacity in EYPs’ everyday practice. Let’s Grow Together, a community-based organisation in the northwest of Cork city, aims to mitigate child poverty and promote early development (birth to 4 years) through prevention and early intervention strategies. Baseline and follow-up questionnaires evaluated changes in EYPs’ knowledge and practice. EYP-child interactions were systematically observed and measured at pre- and post-training timepoints using the Child Caregiver Interaction Scale. Findings offer insight into the implementation of a tailored IECMH training programme for EYPs, its effectiveness for enhancing EYP competencies to support young children’s social-emotional development and associated child-level impacts. This study provides evidence supporting the effectiveness of a tailored IECMH training programme, coupled with mentoring, to enhance EYP skills and practices
Child development · Developmental psychology · Early childhood · Early childhood education · Infant mental health · Medical education · Mental health · Psychiatry · Child and Adolescent Health · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Early Childhood Education and Development · Medicine · Psychology
Thematic Analysis
Updating the evidence
Journal article reporting standards for qualitative primary, qualitative meta-analytic, and mixed methods research in psychology
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A multidisciplinary community level approach to improving quality in early years’ settings
Essential elements of infant and early childhood mental health consultation
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Infant and early childhood mental health consultation in a diverse metropolitan area
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An ethological approach to personality development
Using thematic analysis in psychology
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| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |