Project COPE-Spain (Coping Options for Parent Empowerment) (COPE-ES)

Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Depressive Symptoms; Anxiety Symptoms; Parental Stress

Treatments: Behavioral: COPE Program

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07006220

COPE-ES

Details and patient eligibility

About

The goal of this study trial is to establish the preliminary clinical utility of the COPE program (Coping Options for Parent Empowerment) adapted for caregivers of adolescents in the Spanish context. This program aims to improve parents' emotional well-being, enhance their parenting skills, and promote positive changes in their childrens' emotional and behavioral well-being. This study will adapt the COPE program for in-person group administration in the Spanish context, specifically in the school setting.

Full description

The research project, titled "COPE-Spain: Adapting Project COPE (Coping Options for Parent Empowerment) for Caregivers of Adolescents in the Spanish Context," aims to evaluate the preliminary clinical utility of Project COPE (Coping Options for Parent Empowerment). Project COPE was developed at the University of Miami, with Dr. Jill Ehrenreich-May as the Principal Investigator, and has been evaluated in several studies. This protocol consists of a brief, structured intervention delivered in four group sessions, designed to improve parents' emotional well-being, strengthen their emotional regulation skills, and foster a positive family environment. Initially, Project COPE was developed to help caregivers of children during the COVID-19 pandemic and was later administered to caregivers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The present study seeks to adapt Project COPE to be administered to caregivers of adolescents (instead of children) as an in-person group program implemented in the school setting.

Enrollment: 26 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Being a parent or legal guardian of an adolescent enrolled at IES Isaac Newton during the 2024-2025 academic year.
• Participants must have availability to attend all four program sessions at the scheduled time.

Exclusion criteria

• Current Psychological Treatment: the parent or legal guardian is currently receiving individual psychological treatment and/or family therapy.
• Psychiatric medication changes within 4 weeks prior to the study and/or psychiatric medication changes during the study.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Crossover Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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26 participants in 2 patient groups

COPE Group

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in this group will receive the COPE (Coping Options for Parent Empowerment) Program adapted as a universal prevention program for caregivers of adolescents. The program will consist of four in-person group sessions (90 minutes each) conducted over four consecutive weeks. The program focuses on improving parents' emotional regulation, enhancing parenting skills, and fostering a positive family environment. Assessments will be conducted at baseline (pre-intervention), post-intervention, and at 1-month follow-up.

Treatment:

Behavioral: COPE Program

No Intervention: Waitlist Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in this group will serve as a waitlist control and will not receive the intervention immediately. Instead, they will begin the program after the experimental group has completed it, resulting in a 4-week waiting period. During this time, they will complete an additional assessment at the 4-week mark prior to their baseline, aligning with the pre-intervention timing of the experimental group. In total, they will complete assessments at four time points: 4 weeks prior to baseline, at baseline, post-intervention, and at 1-month follow-up. After the waiting period, they will receive the same COPE program intervention, following the identical structure and session format as the experimental group.