Multiple Family Narrative Therapy for Chinese Families of Children With Dyslexia

NCT05949346 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: RGC Ref No. 12607921General Research Fund (GRF)
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 123
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this randomized controlled trial (RCT) is to develop and to implement a multiple family narrative therapy (MFNT) intervention consisting of parent-child relationships training among Chinese families of children with Dyslexia (CFCDs). The intervention aims to reduce the psychological distress of parents and their child, thus improving parent-child relationships, and the trial aims to assess the effectiveness of MFNT among them. A RCT design supplemented by qualitative interviews will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of MFNT on family welfare.

Conditions

Dyslexia; Special Education; Special Needs Children

Keywords

Dyslexia; Narrative therapy; Efficacy; Intervention; Multiple family group; Parent-child; Special educational needs

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (4)

• Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (KPDS)

  Kessler Psychological Distress Scale is a 10-item scale completed by the child and the child's parent. It assesses the frequency of distress-related feelings in the past month on a 5-point Likert Scale (1=None of the time; 2=A little of the time; 3=Some of the time; 4=Most of the time; 5=All of the time). The scale is reliable and valid for the local context, given it will be delivered in Chinese. Changes in scores of Kessler Psychological Distress Scale will be evaluated before, after the intervention as well as at a follow-up assessment (3 months after the end of the intervention).

  1 week prior intervention, Intervention week 4, and 3 months post-intervention

• Parental Stress Scale (PSS)

  Parental Stress Scale (PSS) consists of 17 items on a 6-point scale (1 = strongly disagree; 2 = disagree; 3= somewhat disagree; 4 = somewhat agree; 5 = agree; 6 = strongly agree) measuring parents' perception of parental stress. Seven items require reverse scoring. A total score is calculated, with higher scores indicating higher levels of parental stress. The Chinese version of the scale has been translated and validated. Changes in its total score will be evaluated before, after the intervention as well as at a follow-up assessment (3 months after the end of the intervention).

  1 week prior intervention, Intervention week 4, and 3 months post-intervention

• Parent-Child Relationship Scale

  Parent-Child Relationship Scale is a scale that assesses subjects' perceptions of their current relationship with their children. It consists of 17 items based on 5-point scale, ranging from 1 = never to 5 = always. The scale uses mean score, and a higher score indicates a more positive parent-child relationship. Changes in its mean score will be evaluated before, after the intervention as well as at a follow-up assessment (3 months after the end of the intervention).

  1 week prior intervention, Intervention week 4, and 3 months post-intervention

• Parental Bonding Inventory (PBI)

  Parental Bonding Inventory (PBI) is a 25-item instrument assessing levels of parental care and overprotection perceived by the child. It consisted of two subscales termed 'care' and 'overprotection/control'. The measure is to be completed for both mothers and fathers separately, with each parent being scored on a 4-point Likert scale (Very unlike = 0, Moderately unlike = 1, Moderately like = 2, Very like = 3). Changes in the scores in "care" and "overprotection/control" subscales in both father and mother will be evaluated before, after the intervention as well as at a follow-up assessment (3 months after the end of the intervention).

  1 week prior intervention, Intervention week 4, and 3 months post-intervention

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Satisfaction With Family Life Scale (SWFL)

  1 week prior intervention, Intervention week 4, and 3 months post-intervention

• Guilt and Shame Questionnaire (GSQ)

  1 week prior intervention, Intervention week 4, and 3 months post-intervention

Study Arms (2)

MFNT Intervention (Treatment Group)

EXPERIMENTAL

Parents of children with dyslexia who are randomized in Treatment Group will first take part in a pre-tested 4-session MFNT intervention programme. The parents will participate in lectures, group discussions, video demonstrations, and in-group exercises offered in these four mentored sessions, while their children will attend the second and fourth sessions.

Behavioral: Multiple Family Narrative Therapy (MFNT)

MFNT Intervention (Wait Listing Control Group)

EXPERIMENTAL

Families of children with dyslexia who are randomized in Wait Listing Control Group receive services as usual by the school personnel during the intervention period. The 4-session MFNT intervention program will be delivered to them after the intervention period.

Behavioral: School services for families of children with Dyslexia

Interventions

Multiple Family Narrative Therapy (MFNT) BEHAVIORAL

MFNT consist of 4 weekly group sessions with selected themes from both multiple family therapy (MFT) and narrative therapy (NT) offered in a group format. The family is treated as a system through both psychodynamic practices and attachment theories to manage symptoms, to achieve family resilience, and to empower both parents and child to share their unique and lived value-driven experiences. MFNT provides families with therapeutic environments that are conducive to learning and modelling in order to facilitate the process of building healthier parent-child dyads.

MFNT Intervention (Treatment Group)

School services for families of children with Dyslexia BEHAVIORAL

Selected school personnel will deliver services as usual for the control group.

MFNT Intervention (Wait Listing Control Group)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 13 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Participants 7-13 years old and their parents
• Dyslexia diagnosis (by psychiatrist or educational psychologist or clinical psychologist)
• Diagnosis with comorbidity of other learning disabilities
• Cantonese speaking participants (child and parents)
• At least one of the parents, but not siblings nor grandparents, can commit to all four sessions
• Participants able to comply with all testing and study requirements

You may not qualify if:

• Formal current diagnosis of psychosis
• Limitation in daily communication
• Previous service recipients of Narrative Therapy or Multiple Family Group
• Non-Cantonese speaking child or parent
• Parents or children who refuse to give written consent for their participation in the study

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Hong Kong Baptist University: lead
• University Grants Committee, Hong Kong: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Department of Social Work, Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong, China

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Location

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Dyslexia

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Language Disorders; Communication Disorders; Neurobehavioral Manifestations; Neurologic Manifestations; Nervous System Diseases; Specific Learning Disorder; Learning Disabilities; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Tak Mau Chan, PhD

  Hong Kong Baptist University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: SINGLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 9, 2023
• First Posted: July 18, 2023
• Study Start: January 1, 2022
• Primary Completion: May 6, 2023
• Study Completion: May 6, 2023
• Last Updated: July 18, 2023

Record last verified: 2021-03

Locations

HK (1)