Emotional Problems in Preschool Children: Evaluation of the SuperKids Program (PRE-KIDS)

Miguel Hernández University of Elche

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Emotional Problem

Treatments: Other: The SuperKids Program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06419933

PID2021-126473NB-I00

Details and patient eligibility

About

Emotional problems are among the most frequent psychological problems in the school stage, having an early onset. When they are not detected and they do not receive adequate intervention, they persist and become chronic, being considered precursors of other problems in adolescence and adulthood. The early onset of emotional problems, and their precursor role for other disorders, justify the need for preventive interventions as soon as possible. Since there is evidence that anxiety and depression share common underlying mechanisms, preventive programs should address shared risk factors. For this reason, the objective of this study is to test the effectiveness of an 8-session cognitive-behavioral protocol developed for Spanish children aged 4 to 6 in the educational context in a controlled trial. The objective of the program is that children improve their skills to manage their own emotions and to improve their ability to interact with other. The program will be applied ina group format and will be enriched with multimedia material that the implementer will project at various moments of the sessions.

Full description

A 2 x 3 factorial design will be used, with the intervention variable as an intergroup factor (intervention or waiting list), and with the evaluation phase as an intragroup factor (pretest, posttest, 12 months follow-up). Parents and children will complete the same measures at baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up. The investigators will compare the results of pre- and post-assessments of children participating in the program on emotional and social variables.

Enrollment: 500 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 4 to 6 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Children aged 4 to 6 years.

Exclusion criteria

• Intellectual disability, behavioral symptoms or autistic spectrum symptoms whose severity prevented the continuation of treatment.
• Current psychological or pharmacological treatment for anxiety and/or depression.
• Not accepting or revoking informed consent to participate in the study.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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500 participants in 2 patient groups

Control group wait-list

No Intervention group

Description:

Group without any intervention. Participants in the wait-list group will receive no psychological intervention during the eight-week duration of the SuperKids program. Families will be informed that children in this group will receive the intervention once the follow-up is completed.

Experimental group

Experimental group

Description:

SuperKids Structured and manualized intervention with a manual for the therapist and a workbook for the children. The intervention will be administered by SuperKids-trained clinical psychologists. Sessions will take place once a week for eight weeks, with each session lasting approximately forty-five minutes. The program includes emotional education and social skills training. These contents are learned through playful exercises, activities, readings and role-playing. The intervention modality will be face-to-face.

Treatment:

Other: The SuperKids Program