{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,17]],"date-time":"2026-06-17T14:38:23Z","timestamp":1781707103409,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":46,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]],"date-time":"2025-12-19T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1766102400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001215","name":"La Trobe University","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["Research Resuscitation Grant 2023"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Research Resuscitation Grant 2023"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001215","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"name":"Tresillian Family Care Centres, NSW"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Children"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Early relational health is critical for childhood development, and disruptions in infant-caregiver trust can heighten risk. MERTIL for Parents is a brief, universal, online program designed to build parental understanding of relational trust and its role in infant development. This pilot study is the first evaluation of the program. Objectives: To evaluate the acceptability and short-term outcomes of MERTIL for Parents. Methods: Seventy-three parents (n = 69 mothers) of children aged 0\u20135 years, referred by practitioners, completed the program and online questionnaires at baseline (N = 73), post-intervention (n = 50), and three-month follow-up (n = 25). Results: The program demonstrated high acceptability: 98% of parents who engaged with the program found the content useful, 92% felt the length was appropriate, and all would recommend it to others. Program completion and satisfaction did not vary by sociodemographic or psychosocial characteristics. At three-month follow-up, parents reported significant improvements in their enjoyment of the parent\u2013child relationship (p &lt; 0.001), attunement to their child (p &lt; 0.001), parenting confidence\/competence (p = 0.004 and p = 0.003), help-seeking amenability (p &lt; 0.001), and a reduction in irritability toward the child (p &lt; 0.001), with medium to large effect sizes. No significant changes were observed for items assessing reflective functioning or perceived rejection. Conclusions: MERTIL for Parents shows strong acceptability and promising preliminary outcomes as a scalable, attachment and trauma-informed intervention supporting early relational health. Future research should examine long-term impacts and evaluate broader implementation across diverse families and service contexts.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/children13010007","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]],"date-time":"2025-12-19T11:03:46Z","timestamp":1766142226000},"page":"7","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["MERTIL for Parents: Pilot Study of an Attachment and Trauma-Informed Online Parenting Program"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"13","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0257-9944","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Zoe C. G.","family":"Cloud","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0559-0842","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jessica E.","family":"Opie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia"},{"name":"Department of Public Health and Primary Care, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 0SR, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicole","family":"Paterson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7487-5059","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anne-Marie","family":"Maxwell","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Tresillian Family Care Centres, Belmore, NSW 2192, Australia"},{"name":"School of Psychological Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8945-4778","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna T.","family":"Booth","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Holly","family":"Foster","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7509-7092","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ellen T.","family":"Welsh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tanudja","family":"Gibson","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Shikkiah","family":"de Quadros-Wander","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia"},{"name":"Werribee Mother Baby Service, Mercy Mental Health, Melbourne, VIC 3030, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4709-5003","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jennifer E.","family":"McIntosh","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Bouverie Centre, La Trobe University, Melbourne, VIC 3056, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,19]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"45","DOI":"10.1177\/1559827619849028","article-title":"Parenting and Child Development: A Relational Health Perspective","volume":"15","author":"Frosch","year":"2021","journal-title":"Am. 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