{ "abstract": "Parent-led interventions are used to address child mental health, but it is unclear whether, or how, children have been involved in their development and evaluation. This review describes methods used to involve children (5–12 years), summarising outcomes and reflections and provides recommendations for best practice and further research. Searches were conducted in five databases in October 2023 and March 2025. Searches of key organisation websites, Google searching, and requests for articles via social media were also conducted. Eligible studies involved children (5–12 years) in the development and/or evaluation of parent-led interventions aimed at preventing or treating child mental health problems delivered in any setting. Study findings were combined using narrative synthesis and shared with children in participatory focus groups (17 children aged 8–11 years, 70.6% male). Review and focus group findings were combined into practice recommendations. From 9,647 studies retrieved, 16 were included. Most were evaluation studies (n = 12) involving children via self-reported outcome measures. Four studies involved children in development, with methodologies including workshops, interviews and feasibility testing. Reporting of outcomes from the co-design process was limited but revealed the importance of creative, art-based parent-mediated activities and rewards for progress. Early involvement in intervention design, use of interactive child-specific co-design workshops, and involvement of children with lived experience are recommended. While involving children may require increased planning and time, benefits include increased acceptance, credibility, parental engagement and feasibility. Future research should include greater detail on codesign methods and effectiveness, to enable more extensive understanding of best practice.\n\nSupplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03187-0.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Manchester Institute of Education, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK", "NIHR Applied Research Collaboration Northwest Coast, University of Lancashire, Preston, UK", "School of Health, Social Work and Sport, University of Lancashire, Preston, UK", "Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King’s College London, London, UK", "Methodologies Research Division, Faculty of Nursing Midwifery & Palliative Care, King’s College, London, UK", "Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, Norwich, UK", "Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK", "Department of Health Services Research and Policy, Faculty of Public Health and Policy, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London, UK", "Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, WC1E 6BT London, UK", "Health Innovation Kent, Surrey Sussex, Crawley, UK", "NIHR Applied Research Collaboration: East of England, Cambridge, UK", "NIHR Maudsley Biomedical Research Centre, South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust and King’s College London, London, UK" ], "article_type": "review article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 14, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Rebecca Nowland", "orcid": "0000-0003-4326-2425" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Georgia Aspinall", "orcid": "0009-0004-3806-1199" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Danielle L. Christian", "orcid": "0000-0003-1117-6127" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Kathryn Berzins", "orcid": "0000-0001-5002-5212" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Deborah J. Crook", "orcid": "0000-0003-1852-1130" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Sundus Khalid" }, { "affs": [ 3, 4 ], "name": "Shalini Ahuja" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Lucy Gallagher", "orcid": "0009-0007-9242-7747" }, { "affs": [ 5, 6 ], "name": "Brioney Gee" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Ella Mickleburgh" }, { "affs": [ 7, 8 ], "name": "Blossom Fernandes", "orcid": "0000-0003-2443-4391" }, { "affs": [ 9 ], "name": "Becca Randell" }, { "affs": [ 10 ], "name": "Afra Kelsall", "orcid": "0009-0007-1717-4719" }, { "affs": [ 3, 11 ], "name": "Daniel Michelson", "orcid": "0000-0001-7370-8788" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/chmm493ycrdv0.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1007/s00787-026-03187-0", "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13710420/", "id": "chmm493ycrdv0", "issns": [ "1018-8827", "1435-165X" ], "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03187-0", "language": "en", "licence": "CC-BY-4.0", "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "heading", "Review" ], [ "openalex", "3312|Children's Rights and Participation" ] ], "openalex": "W7213338862", "pdf_url": "https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s00787-026-03187-0.pdf", "pmcid": "PMC13710420", "pmid": "42742676", "published": "2026-09-15", "publisher": null, "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/chmm493ycrdv0.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-10-31T12:21:23Z", "native_id": "PMC13710420", "source": "pmc", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1007/s00787-026-03187-0" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "medicine", "origin": "journal-openalex:3203|Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development", "subfield": "psychiatry" } ], "title": "Children’s participation in the development and evaluation of parent-led interventions for children’s mental health: a scoping review and consultation with children", "title_text": "Children’s participation in the development and evaluation of parent-led interventions for children’s mental health: a scoping review and consultation with children", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-10-31T12:21:23Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/chmm493ycrdv0", "venue": "European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry", "versions": [] }