NCT03497663

Brief Summary

This RCT aims to investigate the effect of an early family-based intervention (VIA Family) focusing on reducing risk and increasing resilience for children in families where at least one parent has a severe mental illness.The study is a randomized clinical trial including 100 children age 6-12 with familial high risk.The children and their parents will be assessed at baseline and thereafter randomized and allocated to either Treatment as Usual or VIA Family.

Trial Health

87
On Track

Trial Health Score

Automated assessment based on enrollment pace, timeline, and geographic reach

Enrollment
96

participants targeted

Target at P50-P75 for not_applicable

Timeline
Completed

Started Sep 2017

Longer than P75 for not_applicable

Geographic Reach
1 country

1 active site

Status
completed

Health score is calculated from publicly available data and should be used for screening purposes only.

Trial Relationships

Click on a node to explore related trials.

Study Timeline

Key milestones and dates

Study Start

First participant enrolled

September 25, 2017

Completed
6 months until next milestone

First Submitted

Initial submission to the registry

March 19, 2018

Completed
25 days until next milestone

First Posted

Study publicly available on registry

April 13, 2018

Completed
2.7 years until next milestone

Primary Completion

Last participant's last visit for primary outcome

January 1, 2021

Completed
Same day until next milestone

Study Completion

Last participant's last visit for all outcomes

January 1, 2021

Completed
Last Updated

March 16, 2023

Status Verified

October 1, 2020

Enrollment Period

3.3 years

First QC Date

March 19, 2018

Last Update Submit

March 15, 2023

Conditions

Keywords

Familial high riskoffspringschizophreniabipolar disorderrecurrent depressionearly interventionparental trainingfamily based intervention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

  • Change in Childrens Global Assesment Scale (CGAS)

    A clinician rated measurment to asses general functioning in children (scale from 1-100. High score represent better outcome)

    Change from baseline at 18 month follow-up

Secondary Outcomes (4)

  • Change in Childrens Behaviour Checklist (CBCL)

    Change from baseline at 18 month follow-up

  • Change in Family Assessment Device (FAD)

    Change from baseline at 18 month follow-up

  • Change in child's number of days absent from school

    Change from baseline at 18 month follow-up

  • Change in Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME)

    Change from baseline at 18 month follow-up

Study Arms (2)

VIA Family intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

VIA Family is a family based intervention. A multidisciplinary team of specialists from adult mental health services, child and adolescent mental health services and social services will be responsible for providing the basic treatment elements that are: case management and regular contact with the case manager, psychoeducation for the whole family, parental training (Triple P) and early intervention for mental problems of the child.

Other: VIA Family intervention

Treatment as Usual (TAU)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

TAU is defined as any kind of help and support focusing on high risk children and parental mental illness. At present, the municipalities and the mental health services do not offer any kind of family focused intervention addressing parental mental illness that can be compared to the VIA Family program.

Other: Treatment As Usual

Interventions

Family based intervention

VIA Family intervention

Treatment As Usual

Also known as: TAU
Treatment as Usual (TAU)

Eligibility Criteria

Age6 Years - 12 Years
Sexall
Healthy VolunteersYes
Age GroupsChild (0-17)

You may qualify if:

  • Child must have address registered in the municipality of Frederiksberg or Copenhagen.
  • At least one of the biological parents must have a diagnosis of schizophrenia spectrum disorder, bipolar affective disorder or recurrent major depression.
  • The parent with a diagnosis must have had at least one in- or outpatient contact with the mental health system within the lifetime of the child.

You may not qualify if:

  • Parents who do not speak and understand enough Danish to be able to give informed consent for their own and for the child's participation.
  • If all family members are currently engaged in an intensive family intervention program addressing parental functioning and child development, they are excluded from the study.

Contact the study team to confirm eligibility.

Sponsors & Collaborators

Study Sites (1)

Research Unit at Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Capital Region

Copenhagen, Denmark

Location

Related Publications (3)

  • Muller AD, Gjode ICT, Christensen SH, Jorgensen SK, Fischer K, Moszkowicz M, Hemager N, Nordentoft M, Piche G, Thorup AAE. Perceived Need and Social Relatedness Contribute to Change in Selective Prevention for Mental Illness: a Mixed Methods Study. Prev Sci. 2025 Aug;26(6):908-920. doi: 10.1007/s11121-025-01831-w. Epub 2025 Aug 12.

  • Gjode ICT, Muller AD, Hjorthoj C, Hemager N, Ingversen S, Moszkowicz M, Christensen SH, Mikkelsen LJ, Nielsen SS, Melau M, Forman J, Nordentoft M, Thorup AAE. Effects on family functioning and the home environment of a family-based preventive intervention for children of parents with severe mental illness: A randomized controlled trial. J Consult Clin Psychol. 2025 Apr;93(4):267-280. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000924. Epub 2024 Dec 12.

  • Muller AD, Gjode ICT, Eigil MS, Busck H, Bonne M, Nordentoft M, Thorup AAE. VIA Family-a family-based early intervention versus treatment as usual for familial high-risk children: a study protocol for a randomized clinical trial. Trials. 2019 Feb 8;20(1):112. doi: 10.1186/s13063-019-3191-0.

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Mental DisordersSchizophreniaBipolar DisorderDepressive DisorderRecurrencePsychotic DisordersDepression

Interventions

Therapeutics

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychotic DisordersBipolar and Related DisordersMood DisordersDisease AttributesPathologic ProcessesPathological Conditions, Signs and SymptomsBehavioral SymptomsBehavior

Study Officials

  • Anne Thorup

    Research Unit at Child and Adolescent Mental Health Center, Capital Region, Denmark

    PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

Study Type
interventional
Phase
not applicable
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Masking
SINGLE
Who Masked
OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
Masking Details
Baseline Assessor
Purpose
TREATMENT
Intervention Model
PARALLEL
Model Details: The families randomly assigned to the VIA Family Group will be offered regular contact with a case manager. A multidisciplinary team of specialists from adult mental health services/psychiatry , child and adolescent mental health services and social services will be responsible for providing the basic treatment elements that are: case management, psychoeducation for the whole family, parental training (Triple P) and early intervention for mental problems of the child.
Sponsor Type
OTHER
Responsible Party
SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

First Submitted

March 19, 2018

First Posted

April 13, 2018

Study Start

September 25, 2017

Primary Completion

January 1, 2021

Study Completion

January 1, 2021

Last Updated

March 16, 2023

Record last verified: 2020-10

Locations