Family Check-Up Online (FCO)

Arizona State University (ASU)

Status: Active, not recruiting

Conditions: Families of Middle School Students at Title 1 Schools

Treatments: Behavioral: Family Check-Up Online

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06161597

STUDY00017956

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this clinical trial is to test the benefits of the Family Check-Up Online Program for parents of middle school students in Arizona. Participants will complete an online pre-survey, gain access to the online parenting program Family Check-Up, and have the option to meet with a coach to discuss the program. The participants will also complete a post-survey 3 months after enrollment.

Full description

The lingering impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted families adversely in multiple ways, including economic stressors, mental health-related functioning, and social/familial functioning. Given the scale of the pandemic's impact on families with school-aged children, the implementation of effective family-focused programs that target core mechanisms of change with a broad range of benefits for parents and youth across diverse populations, and that can be brought to scale rapidly and with fidelity, represents critical public health goals.

Toward this end, this project is designed to further examine the efficacy of a web-based version of the universal Family Check-Up prevention program, which is an empirically-supported, parent-focused program designed to promote resilience and improve family functioning among parents of middle school-aged youth (grades 6-8th). A randomized control trial conducted through the University of Oregon found that parents who completed the Family Check-up Online program (FCO) either with or without supplemental support coaching exhibited significant increases in confidence and effortful control related to implementing skills and strategies that promote positive emotional and behavioral health among teens. This suggests that parents who complete the program feel more empowered to help guide their child's positive decision making and more effectively manage family challenges.

This project will examine whether the FCO program produces improvements in positive parenting practices, reductions in parental emotional distress, and reductions in youth emotional/behavioral problems when delivered as a universal prevention program targeting parents of 6-8th grade students attending Title 1 public schools (>50% students eligible for free/reduced lunch). The investigators will also examine whether the structured parent coaching support component of the program (i.e., Guidance Coaching) helps to improve the program's effectiveness relative to a parent-initiated informational support condition.

Enrollment: 2,000 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 10 to 16 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• All parents with a child enrolled in grades 6-8 at participating Title 1 public schools will be invited to take part in the study.

Exclusion criteria

• N/A

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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2,000 participants in 2 patient groups

Informational Support

Experimental group

Description:

Parents will be told that they have the option of contacting an informational support specialist any point while completing the program to address questions and discuss the program. Parents will be informed that their questions can be addressed via e-mail or alternatively they can schedule a time to talk with their coach via phone or Zoom. The informational support specialist will not initiate contact with parents in this condition.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Family Check-Up Online

Guidance Coaching

Experimental group

Description:

Parents will be informed that they have been assigned a guidance coach who will contact them via email to schedule 1-3 check-in meetings over the phone or via Zoom while they complete the online program. These meetings are structured to help establish parental goals for the program, offer emotional support, and help motivate parents to implement new parenting skills. During these contacts, coaches use motivational interviewing techniques to help promote and support behavioral change. These coaching contacts are designed to be brief and focused, and typically last for less than 30 minutes. Coach contacts are scheduled based on the parents' availability and interest, and additional coaching sessions can be requested by the parent at any point during the program.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Family Check-Up Online