Collaborative development of a scoping review protocol to map instruments assessing the parent–infant relationship: An International Initiative from COST Action TREASURE

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Early relational health during the first 24 months of life is a key determinant of child development and wellbeing. The parent–infant relationship plays a central role in emotional regulation, bonding, and developmental trajectories. However, existing assessment tools differ widely in their scope and characteristics, and no comprehensive review has yet mapped the instruments available to assess this relationship in early infancy. In response to this gap, a transdisciplinary working group within the COST Action CA22114 – TREASURE collaboratively developed a scoping review protocol to systematically map instruments assessing the parent–infant relationship from birth to 24 months of age. This Brief Report outlines the collaborative methodological process used to construct the protocol. Development followed an iterative, consensus-driven approach involving multidisciplinary experts from multiple COST member countries. Through structured online meetings, the group clarified core constructs and established the age range using the Population–Concept–Context (PCC) framework. The JBI methodology for scoping reviews was adopted and aligned with PRISMA-ScR standards to ensure transparency and reproducibility. Progressive drafting, internal peer review, and iterative refinement led to the final protocol, which was registered on the Open Science Framework (DOI: 10.17605/OSF.IO/HRVX9). The resulting protocol provides a replicable methodological framework for mapping instruments that assess the parent–infant relationship. This Brief Report presents a framework for collaborative protocol development in international research networks, promoting shared knowledge generation in early relational health research and offering potential applicability to other COST initiatives.
Funding Information
  • European Cooperation in Science and Technology (CA22114)

This publication has 16 references indexed in Scilit: