Building Blocks for Child and Family Well-being

Official title

Feasibility, Acceptability, and Program Evaluation of A Parent Group to Support Child and Family Well-being

Overview

Background. Understanding emotions, stress, and conflicts within the family context is critical for promoting positive change. However, most support services for families often address child development, parenting, couple relationships separately without considering these as interacting systems that contributes to overall family well-being. This project is to evaluate an existing clinical service in York University Psychology Clinic (YUPC), "Building Blocks for Child and Family Well-being" (BBFW), which provides an integrated understanding of the family context, and equips caregivers with tools to help families connect, problem-solve, cope with stress, and thrive. BBFW is a brief virtual program that promotes experiential learning, provides individually tailored strategies, and builds a community of support for caregivers. The current study aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the BBFW program within the York University Psychology Clinic (YUPC), with four objectives: 1. Evaluating the feasibility of implementing the BBWF program into YUPC clinical services, represented by enrolment rates, sample characteristics, retention (i.e., number of sessions attended, % dropout), adherence (i.e., completing in- and out-of-session activities), as well as the acceptability of the program among participants. 2. Examining sample and clinical characteristics of those attending the BBFW service 3. Exploring the effectiveness of the BBFW program through changes in family functioning and meta-emotion philosophy from pre- to post-intervention, as well as changes at 1- and 3-month follow-ups. 4. Evaluating and refining the program quality using participant quantitative and qualitative feedback. The BBFW program is based on the best evidence from developmental, family, and relationship science. It aims to support family mental health and well-being through a holistic and sustainable approach, viewing the family as a set of multiple, interdependent systems. This program provides a brief, cost-effective, and accessible alternative with the potential to reduce the burden on traditional mental health and support services for Canadian families.

Interventions

• Behavioral Building Blocks for Family Well-being
  BBFW is a 6-week brief virtual program that promotes experiential learning, provides individually tailored strategies, and builds a community of support for caregivers. The program provides an integrated understanding of the family context, and equips caregivers with tools to help families connect, problem-solve, cope with stress, and thrive. The following topics are covered over 6 weeks: Introduction to the model; Getting to Know Your Family Members (e.g., temperament); Supporting Child Emotion

Primary outcome measures

• Participants Enrolled Per month [Time frame: Week 0]
• Geographic Reach [Time frame: Week 0]
• Retention [Time frame: Week 0 to Week 18]
• Adherence [Time frame: Week 1 to Week 6]
• Adherence [Time frame: Week 6]
• Child Age Groups [Time frame: Week 0]
• Primary Presenting Concern [Time frame: Week 0]
• Family Clinical Characteristics [Time frame: Week 2]
• Family Clinical Characteristics [Time frame: Week 1]
• Client Satisfaction [Time frame: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6]

Secondary outcome measures (2)

• Pre-Post Change in Parent Reported Family Functioning [Time frame: Changes from Week 0 to Week 6; from Week 0 to Week 10; from Week 0 to Week 18]
• Pre-Post Change in Parent Meta-Emotion Philosophy [Time frame: Changes from Week 0 to Week 6; from Week 0 to Week 10; from Week 0 to Week 18]

Eligibility criteria

Inclusion criteria

• Caregivers aged 18 years or older participating in the BBFW program at York Univeristy's Psychology Clinic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
• Caregivers with children 18 years old or under are eligible to participate in the BBFW program.
• Caregivers must be residing in Ontario at the time of their service.
• Caregivers must also have access to a digital device with a screen (e.g., phone, tablet, computer) that can be used for virtual services.

Exclusion criteria

• Caregivers who do not consent to participate in research.
• Caregivers whose children are older than 18 years old.

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

Healthy volunteers: Yes

Study design

Allocation

N/A

Model

Single group

Masking

Open label

Primary purpose

Treatment

Study locations

Canada · 2 centers

• York University, — Toronto
• York University Psychology Clinic — Toronto

Publications

• Philipp DA, Prime H, Darwiche J. An ultra-brief systemic intervention to address child mental health symptomatology. Fam Process. 2023 Jun;62(2):469-482. doi: 10.1111/famp.12875. Epub 2023 Mar 23. PMID 36959726
• Lafrance, A., Henderson, K. A., & Mayman, S. (2020). Emotion-focused family therapy: A transdiagnostic model for caregiver-focused interventions. American Psychological Association
• Dishion TJ, Shaw D, Connell A, Gardner F, Weaver C, Wilson M. The family check-up with high-risk indigent families: preventing problem behavior by increasing parents' positive behavior support in early childhood. Child Dev. 2008 Sep-Oct;79(5):1395-414. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01195.x. PMID 18826532
• Bennett T, Georgiades K, Gonzalez A, Janus M, Lipman E, Pires P, Prime H, Duku E, Jambon M, McLennan JD, Gross J; Making the Race Fair Study Team. Targeted Child Mental Health Prevention and Parenting Support Within a Canadian Context: A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the U.S.-Developed Family Check-Up(R). Prev Sci. 2025 May;26(4):555-567. doi: 10.1007/s11121-024-01741-3. Epub 2024 Nov 22. PMID 39572487

Identifiers

NCT: NCT07351630 · 4745

Primary sources (government registries)

• ClinicalTrials.gov (US NIH)

View this study on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗