Parent Coaching for Parent-Child Relationship

(PEACHY Trial)

Overseen By Lauren M Bylsma, PhD

Age: Any Age

Sex: Any

Trial Phase: Academic

Sponsor: University of Pittsburgh

Disqualifiers: Bipolar, Psychotic, Psychiatric, others

No Placebo Group All trial participants will receive the active study treatment (no placebo)

Compensation: Varies

Number of Visits: 3

Duration: 5 weeks

180 Participants Needed

What You Need to Know Before You Apply

What is the purpose of this trial?

This trial explores how parent coaching can improve young children's responses to positive experiences. It focuses on whether coaching parents to encourage their child's happiness can alter the child's brain response to rewards. Mothers with significant depression symptoms who care for children aged 4-6 might be suitable candidates. Participants will be divided into two groups: one receiving specific coaching to boost child happiness (Parent Encouragement and Coaching of Happiness in Youth) and another receiving general parenting support. The goal is to assess how these approaches affect children's emotional and brain responses.

As an unphased trial, this study provides a unique opportunity to contribute to understanding how parental support can enhance children's emotional well-being.

Will I have to stop taking my current medications?

The trial information does not specify whether participants need to stop taking their current medications.

What prior data suggests that this parent coaching method is safe for children?

Research shows that programs designed to coach parents on enhancing their children's happiness are generally safe. Studies have found that these programs often lead to positive outcomes for children. Benefits include increased parental confidence in caregiving and improved family well-being. Positive interactions between parents and children correlate with better mental health for children. This suggests that the program is well-received, with no major negative effects reported in similar past studies. The goal is to support healthier relationships between parents and children, benefiting both. ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Why are researchers excited about this trial?

Researchers are excited about the Parent Coaching for Parent-Child Relationship trial because it explores innovative ways to enhance the emotional bond between parents and children. Unlike traditional parenting support, which often focuses on general skills and psychoeducation, this trial introduces a unique approach aimed at boosting a child's positive emotions through targeted parent coaching sessions. By concentrating on increasing positive affect in children, this method could potentially lead to stronger, happier parent-child relationships, offering a fresh perspective beyond conventional parenting techniques.

What evidence suggests that parent coaching is effective for improving child neural reward response?

This trial will compare two approaches to parent coaching. Research has shown that coaching parents to enhance their children's positive emotions can lead to better outcomes for kids. In this trial, one group of parents will receive sessions based on PCIT-ED, aimed at increasing child positive affect. A study by Katz and Gottman found that when parents learned to guide their children's emotions, it helped protect preschoolers from negative influences. Another review showed that positive communication between parents and children, characterized by warmth and openness, led to better results for the children. The active control group will receive sessions based on traditional PCIT, providing general parenting support, including basic psychoeducation and parenting skills. Studies also suggest that strong parent-child relationships can improve children's interest in learning. These findings support the idea that coaching parents can positively affect a child's emotional and social development. ^{1 3 6 7 8}

Who Is on the Research Team?

Lauren M. Bylsma, PhD

Principal Investigator

University of Pittsburgh

Judith M Morgan, PhD

Principal Investigator

University of Pittsburgh

Are You a Good Fit for This Trial?

This trial is for mother-child pairs where the child is healthy but may need help with positive emotions. The mothers will be trained to encourage happiness in their children. Families must be able to attend three sessions and agree to brain scans for the kids.

Inclusion Criteria

I am a biological female.

I have been diagnosed with significant depression.

I provide care for the child in the study more than half the time.

Exclusion Criteria

Lifetime history of a bipolar disorder

Lifetime history of a psychotic disorder

Timeline for a Trial Participant

Screening

Participants are screened for eligibility to participate in the trial

2-4 weeks

Treatment

Participants receive 3 sessions of either parent coaching of child positive affect or general parenting support intervention

5 weeks

3 sessions (in-person)

Follow-up

Participants are monitored for changes in child neural reward response and maternal socialization behaviors

5 weeks

What Are the Treatments Tested in This Trial?

Interventions

• Parent Encouragement and Coaching of Happiness in Youth

Trial Overview The study tests if coaching moms on how to boost their kids' happiness can affect the children's brain reactions to rewards. Half of the participants get specific parent coaching, while the other half receive general parenting advice.

How Is the Trial Designed?

Group I: Parent Coaching Experimental Treatment 1 Intervention

Parents will receive 3 sessions based on PCIT-ED aimed at increasing child positive affect.

Group II: Active Control Active Control 1 Intervention

Parents will receive 3 sessions based on traditional PCIT providing more general parenting supporting, including basic psychoeducation and parenting skills.

Who Is Running the Clinical Trial?

University of Pittsburgh

Lead Sponsor

Trials

1,820

Recruited

16,360,000+

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Collaborator

Trials

3,007

Recruited

2,852,000+

Published Research Related to This Trial

The Therapist-Parent Interaction Coding System (TPICS) effectively captures various coaching techniques used by therapists during Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), based on an analysis of 61 video-recorded sessions.

The study found that responsive coaching techniques, such as providing praise, helped improve parents' skills between sessions, while directive coaching methods did not show the same effect, indicating the importance of tailored feedback in enhancing parenting behaviors.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Assessing the Key to Effective Coaching in Parent-Child Interaction Therapy: The Therapist-Parent Interaction Coding System. Barnett, ML., Niec, LN., Acevedo-Polakovich, ID.[2021]

The 2-day intensive Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) significantly improved parental self-efficacy and reduced barriers to involvement in their child's recovery, based on data from 124 parents collected before, immediately after, and 4 months post-intervention.

Children whose parents participated in EFFT showed significant improvements in their mental health symptoms, indicating that this therapy could be effective for various clinical issues in youth.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Brief Emotion Focused Family Therapy: An Intervention for Parents of Children and Adolescents with Mental Health Issues. Foroughe, M., Stillar, A., Goldstein, L., et al.[2020]

A systematic review of 52 studies highlights that effective parenting interventions, from the prenatal period to adolescence, can significantly improve both parenting quality and children's mental health outcomes.

The review emphasizes the need for skilled professionals to implement these evidence-based programs and calls for further research to develop targeted interventions for high-risk groups.

NCBI (Pubmed)

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Parenting for mental health: what does the evidence say we need to do? Report of Workpackage 2 of the DataPrev project. Stewart-Brown, SL., Schrader-McMillan, A.[2011]

Citations

1. trialx.com trialx.com/clinical-trials/listings/325426/parent-encouragement-and-coaching-of-happiness-in-youth/

Parent Encouragement And Coaching of Happiness in Youth The goal of this mechanistic clinical trial is to examine whether parent-coaching aimed at increasing child positive affect will increase child ...

2. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3811942/

Parental Emotion Coaching and Child Emotion Regulation as ... In a 3-year longitudinal study, Katz and Gottman (1997) found that parents' emotion coaching beliefs buffered preschool-age children from the negative effects ...

3. sciencedirect.com sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0091743522000913

A systematic review of the evidence on the effect ... Positive child outcomes were associated with positive general parent-child communication characterised by warmth, openness and allowing children choice.

4. link.springer.com link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s41042-023-00137-y

Strengthening Parents' and Children's Wellbeing Through ... This study examined how Flourishing Families, a structured training in mindfulness and character strengths, may improve parental wellbeing and family life.

5. frontiersin.org frontiersin.org/journals/education/articles/10.3389/feduc.2022.854549/full

The Link Between Parent–Child Relationship and Learning ... Results showed that parent–child relationship was directly correlated with adolescents' learning engagement. Results also showed that parent– ...

6. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK402020/

Parenting Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices - NCBI - NIH Some studies have found a direct association between parental knowledge and child outcomes, including reduced behavioral challenges and improvements on measures ...

7. clinicaltrials.gov clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT05535881

Strengths to Grow: An Online Parenting Resource These programs had positive effects, including improving caregiving self-efficacy, positive emotions toward the child, and family well-being relative to ...

8. frontiersin.org frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1012337/full

Associations between parent-child relationship, self ... This study aims to fill the research gaps by exploring the associations of the parent-child relationship, self-esteem, and resilience on the mental wellbeing ...