Building Regulations in Dual Generations at KIDTHINK

Summary

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs) such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and intellectual disability (ID) are the most frequently diagnosed disability in children, accounting for 7% to 14% of children in developed countries. Developmental concerns emerge early, providing an opportunity to support families years before a diagnosis may occur. Emerging concerns are often predictive of problems with self-regulation, risky behaviours (e.g., substance abuse and over-eating), academic achievement, social functioning, parent-child relationship, and lower overall quality of life. Overall family wellbeing is also commonly affected given the increased challenges faced by parents and caregivers, including socioeconomic disadvantage. Parents facing hurdles to positive parenting, such as poor psychological wellbeing, may struggle further with parenting capacity in the context of the increased parenting demands of caring for a child with specific needs. The objective of this study is to create a novel adaptation of an existing program that is targeted at improving the mental wellness and parenting practices of caregivers (mothers, fathers, guardians) with elevated symptoms of depression who have 3 to 8-year-old children with emerging behavioural, emotional, or developmental concerns. It is hypothesized that taking a dual-generation intervention approach to addressing self-regulatory mechanisms underlying psychopathology at the level of the caregiver, child, and dyad (i.e. parenting interactions) will improve both caregiver capacities and child outcomes. Further, it is hypothesized that this novel adaptation of the program will be tailored to meet the identified needs of this demographic and that the program will show improvement in psychosocial, emotional, and parenting function compared to a services as usual control group. Our current study will be conducted remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic to adhere to public health guidelines to reduce in-person contact and physical distance. The ultimate goal of this project is to improve parent wellbeing and promote supportive parenting practices that allow children with early developmental needs to reach their full potential.

Conditions

• Depression
• Child Development
• Self-regulation

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

BRIDGE Therapy Program

The BRIDGE Therapy Program is a novel manualized therapy that incorporates key parenting concepts and related Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) modules. The primary aim of the program is to improve parent well-being and promote supportive parenting practices. There are two components of the program: 1) the DBT section, which will follow the DBT Skills Training Manual 2nd Edition and target parental mental health symptomology, and 2) the parent skill training materials, which have been designed to correspond to the four core DBT modules (i.e., Mindfulness, Emotion Regulation, Distress Tolerance, and Interpersonal Effectiveness) and to promote self-regulatory skill development and a positive parent-child relationship.

BEHAVIORAL

Community Services as Usual Clinical Referral list

The community services as usual clinical referral list provides information on accessing psychological and family support services in Winnipeg. This resource is used to locate: crisis, distress, and support phone lines, counselling and peer-support resources, and free apps relating to mindfulness and meditation.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Manitoba

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2021-04-14

Primary Completion

2021-10-11

Completion

2021-10-11

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations