Encouraging Positive Parenting Habits

Official title

Encouraging Positive Parenting Habits Through Digital Media: Feasibility Study

Overview

This study evaluates the feasibility and preliminary impacts of a new parenting program consisting of a series of educational videos, automatically delivered via a popular texting platform. The program content for the feasibility study is focused on teaching parents strategies to better manage one of the commonly reported challenges that children face, a transition to a non-preferred activity. Parents with young children experiencing behavior difficulties with daily transition routines are invited to participate in the study.

Detailed description

This feasibility study employs a pre-post, open trial design with the primary aim to investigate the feasibility of the automated delivery of parenting educational materials via a widely used texting platform. The training videos demonstrate the applications of antecedent- and reinforcement-based behavior management techniques in a specific situation and encourage parents to build positive parenting habits. The program usability and satisfaction will be assessed through daily interactions of the participants with the program and post-program questionnaires. The study targets parents of children demonstrating behavioral difficulties managing everyday routines at home, while having difficulty accessing traditional forms of psychosocial treatment. In particular, children of ADHD often experience these difficulties, potential participants are informed that the program is for children demonstrating behaviors consistent with ADHD, and ADHD symptoms will be evaluated pre- and post-program participation, although the presence of the disorder will not be required for the program participation. The investigators expect parents to engage well in the program delivered via digital media. Based on the existing literature on the effectiveness of behavior parent training delivered in traditional in-person format, the investigators expect a moderate effect size in the pre-post measures of parenting practices and the child target behavior for this study.

Interventions

• Behavioral HabitE (effective parenting habit) program (in Brazilian Portuguese)
  Parents who enroll in the program will receive a series of 6 videos (\~ 7 minutes each), 1 video at a time, generally every 3 days. They will also receive daily written texts, which include implementation tips and an assessment of a target (transition) behavior.

Primary outcome measures

• Number of videos viewed [Time frame: 1 month]
• Percentage of completed daily ratings [Time frame: 1 month]
• Participant satisfaction [Time frame: 1 month]

Secondary outcome measures (6)

• Parent-rated child's difficulties with daily transitions [Time frame: 1 month]
• Parent-rated child's impairment related to transition difficulties [Time frame: 1 month]
• Inconsistent parenting [Time frame: 1 month]
• Use of physical control [Time frame: 1 month]
• Hostility toward child [Time frame: 1 month]
• Parent Stress [Time frame: 1 month]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Parents of children aged from 4 to 10 years old
• Parents experiencing behavior difficulties with daily transition routines (parent-report).

Exclusion criteria

• Parents that do not have the children living with them at least 5 days per week every week;

• While participating parents are informed that the program was developed for children demonstrating symptoms of ADHD, the low symptom number will not be used as an exclusion criteria.

Criteria are shown verbatim from the registry (in English). Final eligibility is always assessed by the study center.

Healthy volunteers: No

Study design

Allocation

N/A

Model

Single group

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Treatment

Study locations

Brazil · 1 center

• Instituto D'or de Pesquisa e Ensino (IDOR) — Brazil

Identifiers

NCT: NCT06305429 · HABITE

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗