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Introduction – There is a debate in the health outcomes literature regarding who the most appropriate respondent is when assessing children’s health-related quality of life (HRQoL). In some cases, parent-proxy may be the only practical option where children are unable to self-complete an HRQoL questionnaire. However, children’s self-reported values may be preferable because HRQoL is subjective and represents one's own perception of health. Method – We collected the youth version of the EQ-5D-3L as part of a feasibility study comparing psychoanalytic child psychotherapy with usual care for children aged 5-11 years with treatment resistant conduct disorders. The questionnaires were completed at baseline and 4-month follow-up by the child via face-to-face researcher administration, and by one parent as a proxy respondent. We present percentages of completion at each time-point and investigate the level of agreement between the children and the proxy-respondent on the child’s health. Results – About two thirds of children (65.5%) were able to complete the EQ-5D-Y at baseline and 34.4% at follow-up. Children and primary carers were mostly concordant regarding overall child’s health. Parents reported more problems in ‘doing usual activities’ and ‘feeling worried, sad or unhappy’ and fewer problems with ‘pain’ and ‘looking after oneself’ than children did. The reports regarding ‘mobility’ were very similar between children and proxy-respondents. Discussion – The assessment of quality of life by children using self-report questionnaires is possible with the help of a face-to-face researcher, providing evidence that children should be asked to self-complete HRQoL questionnaires in trial studies.

Parenting programmes are recommended for conduct disorders in 5-11 year olds, but ineffective for 25-33%. A feasibility trial was needed to determine whether a confirmatory trial of second-line, manualised short-term psychoanalytic child psychotherapy (mPCP) versus treatment as usual (TaU) is practicable. This was a two-arm, pragmatic, parallel-group, multi-centre, individually-randomised controlled feasibility trial with blinded outcome assessment. Child-primary carer dyads were recruited from National Health Service Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services and mPCP delivered by routine child psychotherapists. Thirty-two dyads (50% of eligible, 95% CI 37 to 63%) were recruited, with 16 randomised to each arm. Eleven (69%) completed ≥50% of 12 week mPCP and 13 (81%) . Follow-up was obtained for 24 (75%) at 4 months and 14/16 (88%) at 8 months. Teacher follow-up was 16 (50%) ≥1 session. Manual adherence was good. Baseline candidate primary outcomes were 37.4 (SD 11.4) and 18.1 (SD 15.7) on the Child Behaviour Checklist/Teacher Report Form externalising scale and 102.8 (SD 28.4) and 58.8 (SD 38.9) on the total score. Health economics data collection was feasible and the trial acceptable to participants. Recruitment, teacher follow-up and the manual need some refinement. A confirmatory trial is feasible, subject to funding of research child psychotherapists.

Background: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends evidence-based parenting programmes as a first-line intervention for conduct disorders (CD) in children aged 5–11 years. As these are not effective in 25–33% of cases, NICE has requested research into second-line interventions. Child and Adolescent Psychotherapists (CAPTs) address highly complex problems where first-line treatments have failed and there have been small-scale studies of Psychoanalytic Child Psychotherapy (PCP) for CD. A feasibility trial is needed to determine whether a confirmatory trial of manualised PCP (mPCP) versus Treatment as Usual (TaU) for CD is practicable or needs refinement. The aim of this paper is to publish the abridged protocol of this feasibility trial. Methods and design: TIGA-CUB (Trial on improving Inter-Generational Attachment for Children Undergoing Behaviour problems) is a two-arm, pragmatic, parallel-group, multicentre, individually randomised (1:1) controlled feasibility trial (target n=60) with blinded outcome assessment (at 4 and 8 months), which aims to develop an optimum practicable protocol for a confirmatory, pragmatic, randomised controlled trial (RCT) (primary outcome: child’s behaviour; secondary outcomes: parental reflective functioning and mental health, child and parent quality of life), comparing mPCP and TaU as second-line treatments for children aged 5–11 years with treatment-resistant CD and inter-generational attachment difficulties, and for their primary carers. Child-primary carer dyads will be recruited following a referral to, or re-referral within, National Health Service (NHS) Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) after an unsuccessful first-line parenting intervention. PCP will be delivered by qualified CAPTs working in routine NHS clinical practice, using a trial-specific PCP manual (a brief version of established PCP clinical practice). Outcomes are: (1) feasibility of recruitment methods, (2) uptake and