Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health in Parenting (BEAM)

University of Calgary

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Child Mental Health; Parent Mental Health; Child Development; Parenting

Treatments: Behavioral: Building Emotion Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06046989

REB23-0759

Details and patient eligibility

About

Postpartum (child age 0-5 years) mental health problems are common, with prevalence rates ranging from 15-20% for depression, 3-43% for anxiety, and approximately 30% for anger. Depression, anxiety, and anger often occur comorbidly. If left untreated, these disorders can be long-lasting and lead to child behaviour problems, brain changes, and risk for later mental illness. We developed an app-based treatment for parental mental illness: Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health in Parenting (BEAM). The BEAM program includes mental health and parenting videos, peer coaching, as well as a forum and drop-in Zoom sessions where parents can connect with each other to receive and provide social support. The program is supported by peer coaches (parents with lived experience of recovery from mental illness and who may have received emotion-focused parenting support) and supervised by clinically-trained staff. Peer coaches check-in with parents weekly to support their progress. Our study will see the BEAM app's effect on parent mental health, parenting stress, child behaviour, and child brain structure and function. 240 parents with high depression, anxiety, and/or anger symptoms will be recruited, with half forming the treatment-as-usual group.

Full description

Although there are existing treatments for parental mental illness, there can be barriers to accessing care such as high cost and limited options in rural areas. This is troubling as untreated parental mental health symptoms can contribute to adverse consequences for both the parent and child. Thus, early intervention is critical to help prevent negative long-term effects. Digital resources can provide effective support, as they bypass many of the barriers associated with in-person interventions. The BEAM app was designed to combat these barriers and assist parents struggling with their mental health and the transition to parenthood. BEAM is a 12-week intervention with weekly videos about mental health and parenting for participants to watch. Exercises will be available so participants can practice new skills. Participants will also participate in weekly check-ins with peer coaches and have access to a secure forum where they can talk to other participants and receive social support. The BEAM Program also includes optional monthly drop-in sessions where parents can connect with each other in real time over Zoom.

Parent mental health (depression, anxiety, anger), parenting stress, and overreactive parenting will be assessed pre- and post-intervention, as well as 6 months post-intervention. Child behaviour and mental health will also be measured at all three timepoints (pre-, post-, and 6-months post-intervention). Child brain structure and function will be examined by MRI scans 6-months post-intervention. Participants will also receive brief wellness monitoring surveys in-app on a weekly basis.

There are three objectives for the present study:

1. Examine the effects of the BEAM program on parent mental health (including symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger).
2. Examine the effects of the BEAM program on children's behaviour and mental health.
3. Examine the effects of the BEAM program on children's brain structure and function.

Enrollment: 240 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 65 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Parent is 18 years of age or older
• Must have a child who is 3-4 years old
• Must show clinically elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, &/or anger
• Living in the Vancouver or Calgary area
• Parent is comfortable understanding, speaking, and reading English

Exclusion criteria

• Parent is under the age of 18
• Does not show clinically elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, and/or anger
• History of attempted suicide or self-harm in the past 6 months
• Does not live in the Vancouver or Calgary area
• Child has serious genetic, neurological, or neurodevelopmental disorders that impact cognitive function or brain structure/function (e.g., Down Syndrome, epilepsy, etc.), or if they have contra-indications to MRI scanning (i.e., metal implants)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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240 participants in 2 patient groups

BEAM Program

Experimental group

Description:

The BEAM Program is delivered via mobile application, weekly check-ins, and peer coaching. BEAM includes videos with emotion-regulation strategies that come from the Unified Protocol (evidence-based treatment for depression and anxiety disorders) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) to help with mental health, as well they focus on developing self-compassion and effective communication. There are also supportive parenting videos which focus on providing parents with emotion-focused parenting strategies, based on Tuning in to Kids® and Parent Management Training - The Oregon Model (PMTO), which aim to help parents better understand and respond to their child. There will be approximately 15-20 minutes of videos to watch weekly.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Building Emotion Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM)

Treatment-As-Usual

No Intervention group

Description:

This is the control arm of the study. It is designed to account for the potential effects of time on symptoms of depression, anxiety, and anger.