The Happy Families Project: Testing the Effectiveness of a Conflict Resolution Program for Families

University of Notre Dame

Status: Enrolling

Conditions: Conflict; Mental Health

Treatments: Behavioral: Parent-child intervention; Behavioral: Self-study Intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04980794

20-0852

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is designed to test the effectiveness of a psychoeducation-based program to address communication and conflict resolution in families, thereby supporting mental health in children and their caregivers.

Full description

The goal of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a program to improve mental health in families by reducing stress and supporting effective communication and conflict resolution.

Families will be randomly assigned to one of two conditions: in the self-study condition, families will receive information to review on their own, paired with regular (weekly) contact from a family coach; in the second condition, families will receive information to review on their own, regular contact from a coach, and will participate in video sessions with a family coach who will provide feedback on their interactions and coaching on their use of a communication technique. Data collection, management and analysis will be conducted by researchers at the University of Notre Dame, but the intervention will occur through community organizations in three cities in Indiana, allowing for tests of the effectiveness of the program when it is implemented in community settings. Families will participate in a pre-test assessment, a four-week intervention, a post-test assessment, and a one-year follow up assessment. Also evaluated will be organizational factors and factors that impact ultimate implementation and scalability of the program in community settings.

Enrollment: 1,800 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 4+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Two parents or primary caregivers
• Child between 4 and 17 years old
• English literate
• Able/willing to participate through the 12-month follow up assessment.

Exclusion criteria

• Families who cannot communicate in English
• Single parent families

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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1,800 participants in 2 patient groups

Parent-Child Intervention

Experimental group

Description:

This is a four-dose intervention that includes psychoeducational modules and communication coaching administered through community organizations over the course of four weeks. Both participating adults and the participating child receive materials to review each week, paired with weekly contact from a family coach.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Parent-child intervention

Self-study intervention

Active Comparator group

Description:

This is a four-dose intervention that include written self-study materials to review, paired with weekly contact with a family coach. Both participating adults receive self-study materials; the participating child does not receive separate materials.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Self-study Intervention