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Mental Health Treatment to Improve Father Depression and Child Outcomes in Kenya

NCT06489314 · Status: ENROLLING_BY_INVITATION · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 116

Last updated 2025-12-11

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

The goal of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of a peer-father counselor delivered psychosocial intervention for fathers at risk for depression and some alcohol use in Eldoret, Kenya in a pilot randomized control trial (RCT). The study draws on existing partnerships with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) and AMPATH (a consortium of North American and Kenyan institution conducting research) in Kenya. It will also build on already completed preliminary work with AMPATH/MTRH that showed proof-of-concept for 'Learn, Engage, Act, Dedicate' (LEAD), a 5-session task-shifted psychosocial intervention for fathers in Eldoret, Kenya. Proof-of-concept findings with nine fathers and families were promising with high participant satisfaction and improvements in father depression, alcohol use, parenting, and child mental health. This supported pursuit of a pilot RCT, proposed here, to explore preliminary effectiveness of LEAD and its implementation. Specifically, investigators aim to conduct a pilot RCT with fathers (n=102) randomized to either LEAD or a waitlist control group (with treatment offered at the end of the waitlist period) to explore change in fathers' mental health (MH); explore drivers of change in father MH, father parenting, and child MH (or non-response); and explore the feasibility and acceptability of implementing a peer-father counselor delivered MH treatment for fathers. Investigators will also refer all participants that screen positive for depression and alcohol use problems at recruitment (the WL control and intervention group) to services in the area using existing referral to care procedures.

Conditions

  • Father-Child Relations
  • Depression
  • Alcohol Use, Unspecified

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

LEAD (Learn, Engage, Act, Dedicate)

LEAD is a 5-session behavioral activation (BA) intervention delivered by peer-father counselors. LEAD also incorporates motivational interviewing (MI) and masculinity discussion strategies. This is a task-shifted intervention meaning mental health service tasks are delegated to non-specialist providers, in this case peer-fathers, as opposed to a specialized workforce (e.g., psychiatrists, psychologists).

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital

    collaborator OTHER

  • Florida International University

    lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

  • Ali Giusto, PhD · Florida International University

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
18 Years
Max Age
65 Years
Sex
MALE
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2025-04-15
Primary Completion
2026-12-01
Completion
2027-12-01

Countries

  • Kenya

Study Locations

More Related Trials

Entities

Diseases

Read the full study record

This page highlights key information. For complete eligibility criteria, study locations, investigator contacts, and the full protocol, visit the original record on ClinicalTrials.gov.

View NCT06489314 on ClinicalTrials.gov