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Effects of an SMS-Based Parenting Intervention on Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool Children

NCT07728344 · Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING · Phase: NA · Type: INTERVENTIONAL · Enrollment: 356

Last updated 2026-07-27

No results posted yet for this study

Summary

Excessive screen use and anxiety symptoms in preschool children have become increasingly prominent public health problems. This randomized controlled trial aims to determine whether, compared with a control group, an ecological momentary parenting intervention delivered via text messages and a WeChat public account can reduce screen use, anxiety symptoms, and social-emotional behavior problems in preschool children.

A total of 356 caregiver-child dyads with children aged 3 to 6 years will be randomly assigned to an intervention group with 178 dyads or a control group with 178 dyads. The intervention group will receive an ecological momentary parenting intervention, including text messages and posts on a WeChat public account, focusing on guidance for emotion recognition, anxiety soothing, establishing regular routines, and reasonable screen use management. The control group will receive only general pediatric health science popularization text messages, which do not include content related to child emotion management, anxiety intervention, or screen use management.

The primary outcome is children's anxiety symptoms, assessed by the Spence Preschool Anxiety Scale. Secondary outcomes include children's screen use assessed by the ScreenQ scale and social-emotional behavior problems assessed by the Social Competence and Behavior Evaluation Scale-30 (SCBE-30)

Conditions

  • Problematic Screen Use in Preschool Children
  • Anxiety Symptoms in Preschool Children
  • Social-emotional Behavior Problems in Preschool Children

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Ecological Momentary Parenting Intervention

Participants will receive an ecological momentary parenting intervention delivered via parenting text messages and posts on a WeChat public account. The intervention focuses on emotion recognition, anxiety soothing, establishing regular routines, and reasonable screen use management.

OTHER

General Pediatric Health Education

Participants will receive general pediatric health science popularization text messages that do not include content related to child emotion management, anxiety intervention, or screen use management.

Sponsors & Collaborators

  • Anhui Medical University

    lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
DOUBLE
Model
PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age
3 Years
Max Age
6 Years
Sex
ALL
Healthy Volunteers
Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start
2026-08-31
Primary Completion
2027-03-31
Completion
2027-03-31

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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 NCT07728344 on ClinicalTrials.gov