Thrive Intervention in Schools

The Washington University

Status: Invitation-only

Conditions: Childhood Mental Disorder

Treatments: Behavioral: Parenting Wisely; Behavioral: THRIVE

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06139874

202306092

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is designed to test the effectiveness and implementation of an early intervention therapy for children and their primary caregivers by using existing school counselors across several school districts.

The intervention is a 6-8 week caregiver-child intervention (THRIVE) which will be conducted via video conference in the family's home (i.e., zoom), or within the school setting (or a combination of those 2 modalities depending upon feasibility for the family). THRIVE will be compared to an asynchronous on-line parenting education program, Parenting Wisely (PW). This online parenting course will be accessed at www.parentingwisely.com.

Existing school counselors will be trained in the delivery of THRIVE to 3-7 year old children (in preschool, kindergarten and first grade) and their primary caregivers. In addition to testing the effectiveness of THRIVE compared to PW, we will also compare two implementation strategies: THRIVE-Coached and THRIVE-Low Coached (LC). We will assess ongoing coaching of THRIVE trainees to increase therapist efficacy and adherence to the intervention (THRIVE-Coached). This will be compared to implementation of THRIVE with low supports (e.g. weekly supervision) provided only for the first case following the initial training (THRIVE-LC].

Compared to those randomized to PW, we expect children who receive THRIVE will have significantly better behavioral and socio-emotional outcomes. Caregivers who receive THRIVE will experience less parenting stress and depression, more optimism and will show more nurturing, emotional tolerance, and supportive caregiving.

Therapists in the THRIVE-Coached condition will deliver the intervention with higher achieved outcomes and find the intervention to be more acceptable than therapists in the THRIVE-LC condition. Therapists in the THRIVE-Coached condition will be more likely to plan to sustain the intervention following the completion of the study than those in the THRIVE-LC condition. Parents and children receiving THRIVE from therapists in the THRIVE-Coached condition will have better socio-emotional outcomes than those in the THRIVE-LC and PW conditions.

Enrollment: 405 estimated patients

Sex: All

Ages: 3 to 7 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Near the clinical threshold on the Teacher or Parent Report Form
• An active primary caregiver can be identified and is available to participate in the intervention (mother, father, grandparent or any adult in this role)

Exclusion criteria

• Autism
• Major neurological disorder
• Participating in active weekly individual or family therapy

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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405 participants in 3 patient groups

THRIVE Coached

Experimental group

Description:

Thrive is a promising early intervention for depression that directly targets developing affective systems and builds on the empirical literature on emotion development and prevention. It will be delivered by school social workers/counselors. Following training in THRIVE, school therapists in this condition will receive ongoing weekly group supervision over the life of the study.

Treatment:

Behavioral: THRIVE

THRIVE Low Coached

Experimental group

Description:

Thrive is a promising early intervention for depression that directly targets developing affective systems and builds on the empirical literature on emotion development and prevention. It will be delivered by school social workers/counselors. Following training in THRIVE, school therapists in this condition will receive weekly group supervision only during thier first THRIVE case.

Treatment:

Behavioral: THRIVE

Parenting Wisely

Active Comparator group

Description:

Online asynchronous parenting training that parents will complete independently.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Parenting Wisely