Parents Resources for Decreasing the Incidence of Change Triggered Temper Outbursts (PREDICTORS)

Queen's University Belfast

Status and phase: Completed; Phase 1

Conditions: Child Behavior

Treatments: Behavioral: Visual Scheduling; Behavioral: signalling change

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT02567357

R2149PSY

Details and patient eligibility

About

'PREDICTORS' (Parents Resources for Decreasing the Incidence of Change Triggered Temper Outbursts) aims to evaluate web-based training packages for caregivers of children who show frequent temper outbursts following changes to their routines and plans. The training packages will teach caregivers how to apply strategies that aim to reduce the number of temper outbursts that the children show following changes, as well as making any outbursts they do show less severe (less functionally impairing).

Full description

The aims of PREDICTORS are: 1. To refine the tools to implement and evaluate a resource-efficient caregiver training program for signalling changes to children with intellectual disabilities or autism spectrum disorders. 2. To pilot the program to test the feasibility of taking it forward into a clinical trial. 3. To conduct a process and economic evaluation of the pilot intervention to provide further data on its suitability for a clinical trial.

Parents/caregivers of children aged 7-16 years old who frequently show temper outbursts when things change in their routines or plans will keep a web-based diary accessed via smart phone or other device on their child's temper outbursts for a 6 month period (baseline). After 6 months of keeping this diary, parents/caregivers will then access web-based training for approximately 1 month which will include sessions to study once or twice per week as well as exercises to practice in between sessions.

After the training is complete parents will be asked to implement the strategies they have learnt in the 6 months that follow. In addition researchers from the university will telephone parents/ caregivers to ask some questions about their child's temper outbursts and on the effects this behaviour has on daily life. Parents will be interviewed at three points during the study (before baseline, after baseline, before intervention and after intervention phases). Interviews will focus on gathering information of their child's behaviour.

Focus groups with relevant experienced professionals and parents (not participating in the main part of the study) will guide the training resource development and development and content of the behaviour diary used by parents during the study.

Enrollment: 80 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 7 to 16 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• children aged 7-16 years of age, with temper outbursts triggered by change to routine or plans and their parent(s)/caregiver(s)

Exclusion criteria

• children who show less than one change triggered temper outburst (temper outbursts following an unexpected change in plan, routine or expectation) per month

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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80 participants in 2 patient groups

Visual Scheduling

Active Comparator group

Description:

A caregiver training package on the use of a pictorial (visual) schedule to illustrate each day's expected activities to a child. Caregivers will be trained to ensure that activities occur as described in the schedule as far as possible, thus the expected mechanism of action is the reduction of (unexpected change) antecedents of children's temper outbursts.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Visual Scheduling

Signalling change

Experimental group

Description:

A caregiver training package where parents are taught to present a distinctive visual-verbal cue to a child whenever they become aware that a change will take place in the child's usual/expected activities. Caregivers will be trained to only ever present to cue if they can be sure that a change to the child's routine or plan will occur, thus the expected mechanism of action is the child's learned association between the presentation of the cue and the subsequent occurrence of a change to their expectations. Signalled changes will therefore be more predictable for the child, and should therefore be easier for them to deal with.

Treatment:

Behavioral: signalling change