Improving Future Thinking Among Mothers to Reduce Harsh Parenting and Improve Child Outcomes

NCT05229146 | Completed Results

• 1 other identifier: NHP: 15407-31
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 48
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Parents of children from impoverished communities are disproportionately more likely to engage in harsh physical discipline, which can lead to serious clinical outcomes, including suicidal ideation and attempts. One mechanism linking low resource environments and maladaptive parenting strategies is maternal delay discounting, or the tendency to value smaller, immediate rewards (such as stopping children's misbehavior via physical means) relative to larger, but delayed rewards (like improving the parent-child relationship). This study will examine the efficacy of implementing a low-cost, brief intervention targeting the reduction of maternal delay discounting to inform broader public health efforts aimed at improving adolescent mental health outcomes in traditionally underserved communities.

Conditions

Behavioral Health

Keywords

episodic future thinking; delay discounting; parent-child relations; low income; substance use treatment; peer recovery coach

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Monetary Choice Questionnaire

  The brief Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ) is a 21-item binary-choice task that asks participants to select between two hypothetical monetary amounts: a smaller reward available immediately (e.g. $49 today) or a larger reward available after a delay (e.g. $60 in 89 days). "Larger later" amounts are separated into small, medium and large magnitudes. For the purposes of this study, to limit participant burden, we administered only small and large magnitude subscales, resulting in a total number of 14 items. The measure is scored to derive a single "total score" discounting rate k, with larger values reflecting greater preference for smaller sooner reward. Because k distributions are typically skewed, post-hoc natural logarithmic transformations were performed, resulting in normal distributions; thus, there is no maximum and minimum value. The MCQ has been shown to have strong psychometric properties among adults and correlates with real rewards, as well as real-world risk behaviors.

  Baseline, 1 week, 4 weeks

• Change in Consideration of Future Consequences Scale-Parenting Score

  The Consideration of Future Consequences Scale-Parenting Adapted (CFCS-14-PA) is a 14-item self-report questionnaire composed of two subscales reflecting either immediate or future orientation related to parents interactions with their children. Items range from "not at all like me" (1) to "very much like me" (5) and are summed to create future or immediate orientation subscale, each composed of 7 items with score ranges from 7-35. Lower scores on the future orientation and higher scores on the immediate orientation subscales are associated with less future orientation and predictive of less engagement in health behaviors. The measure has been used extensively among adult samples and demonstrates strong reliability and validity. Change in CFCS-14-PA score is measured by comparing scores at the post-intervention assessment (approximately 4 weeks after baseline) with baseline scores.

  Baseline, 4 weeks

Secondary Outcomes (4)

• Change in Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System Scores

  Baseline, 4 weeks

• Change in Alabama Parenting Questionnaire Score

  Baseline, 4 weeks

• Change in Emotion Regulation Checklist

  Baseline, 4 weeks

• Client Satisfaction Questionnaire

  4 weeks

Study Arms (1)

Episodic Future Thinking

EXPERIMENTAL

Mothers will receive episodic future thinking (EFT). Mothers will meet with a "peer mother" who will administer the EFT intervention, including generation of several specific future events reflecting positive interactions with their child. We will also teach each parent a behavioral parent training element called Special Play Time. Following this session, mothers will receive daily text messages over the course of two weeks including a reminder cue generated as part of the EFT and a prompt to remember these episodes in vivid detail.

Behavioral: Episodic Future Thinking

Interventions

Episodic Future Thinking BEHAVIORAL

Episodic future thinking (EFT) includes a focus on generating detailed and vivid descriptions of future events. For the current intervention, EFT will be modified to have mothers describe specific events with their children.

Episodic Future Thinking

Eligibility Criteria

• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Be the mother from the Flint area of a child between the ages of 5-10 who can provide legal consent for that child to participate in this study
• Self-report that the child lives with them for at least 50% of the time
• Willing to participate in the study
• Able to participate in written assessments and an intervention conducted in English
• Have a working cell phone that can receive and send text messages and be willing to receive/send text messages as part of the study
• Have a phone or device that's able to use video conferencing software

You may not qualify if:

• Self-disclosed active suicidality/homicidality
• Self-disclosed current bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or psychosis
• Current and ongoing involvement with child protective services

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Henry Ford Health System: lead
• University of Maryland, College Park: collaborator
• University of Kansas: collaborator
• Michigan State University: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

RL Jones Community Outreach Center

Flint, Michigan, 48505, United States

Location

Results Point of Contact

• Title: Dr. Julia Felton
• Organization: Henry Ford Health

jfelton4@hfhs.org

313-598-0841

Publication Agreements

• PI is Sponsor Employee: No
• Restrictive Agreement: No

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Scientist

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 18, 2022
• First Posted: February 8, 2022
• Study Start: June 2, 2022
• Primary Completion: November 21, 2023
• Study Completion: November 21, 2023
• Last Updated: March 14, 2025
• Results First Posted: March 14, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-02

Locations

US (1)