Parent-Child Memory Study: Improving Future Thinking Among Mothers

NCT06145919 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: NHRCT: 16828-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 144
• 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

Behavior, Health

Keywords

episodic future thinking; episodic recent thinking; delay discounting; parent-child relations; low resource; Flint, Michigan; special play time

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Monetary Choice Questionnaire

  The Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ) is a 27-item binary-choice task, which 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). The measure is scored to derive a discounting rate k, with larger values reflecting more problematic rates of discounting. Because k distributions are typically skewed, post-hoc natural logarithmic transformations will be performed, which have been shown to approximate normal distributions. 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, Intervention, Week 2, Month 3, Month 6, Month 9

• Change in Consideration of Future Consequences Scale Score

  The Consideration of Future Consequences Scale1 (CFCS-14) is a 14-item self-report questionnaire that assesses active consideration of longer-term implications of an individual's actions. Lower scores on the CFCS-14 are associated with a greater focus on immediate needs and have been found to be associated with less engagement in health behaviors1819 and greater substance use. The measure has been used extensively among adult samples and demonstrates strong reliability and validity. Research suggests modest but significant correlations with the MCQ. Change in CFCS-14 score is measured by comparing scores at the post-intervention assessment timepoints with baseline scores.

  Baseline, Intervention, Week 2, Month 3, Month 6, Month 9

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Change in Alabama Parenting Questionnaire Score

  Baseline, Intervention, Week 2, Month 3, Month 6, Month 9

• Change in Emotion Regulation Checklist

  Baseline, Intervention, Week 2, Month 3, Month 6, Month 9

Study Arms (2)

Episodic Future Thinking (EFT)

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. The participant will be asked to discuss their relationship with their child and to give examples of both positive and negative parenting from their personal experience. The "peer mother" will then ask the participant to think about their long-term parenting goals and will discuss how to create a vivid event that will be easy to remember. We will also teach each parent a behavioral parent training element called Special Play Time. Following this session, participants are asked to engage in messaging that will prompt them to think about future events.

Behavioral: Episodic Future Thinking (EFT)

Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

In the episodic recent thinking (ERT) condition, the participant will be asked to discuss their relationship with their child and to give examples of both positive and negative parenting from their personal experience. The "peer mother" will then ask the participant to think about the present and discuss how to focus on the present. Two positive recent events and two negative recent events will be used to create ERT scenes for the parent to envision their current relationship with their child. We will also teach each parent a behavioral parent training element called Special Play Time. Following this session, participants will receive messages over the course of two weeks helping parents to focus on recent events with their child.

Behavioral: Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)

Interventions

Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) BEHAVIORAL

The adapted episodic future thinking (EFT) intervention will focus on generation of vivid, substance-free, rewarding events that could happen in the future with their children.

Episodic Future Thinking (EFT)

Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT) BEHAVIORAL

In the episodic recent thinking (ERT) condition, the participant will instead describe in vivid details events that have occurred in the recent past.

Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 5 Years+
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• A mother and or grandmother from the Flint area with a child/grandchild between the ages of 5-10 who can provide legal consent for that child
• Self-report that they have consistent contact with the child/grandchild
• 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 if interested in virtual participation

You may not qualify if:

• Self-disclosed active suicidality/homicidality
• Self-disclosed current bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or psychosis
• Self-reported current and ongoing involvement with child protective services
• Children must be between the ages of 5-10 and have a mother/grandmother willing to provide consent for their participation
• Willing to participate in parent-child observation sessions
• Elementary proficiency in English
• Willing to participate in study surveys
• Self-disclosed active suicidality/homicidality
• Self-disclosed current bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or psychosis

Sponsors & Collaborators

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

Study Sites (1)

Mothers of Joy Institute for Parenting and Family Wellness, Inc

Flint, Michigan, 48503, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (7)

• Felton JW, Collado A, Cinader M, Lejuez CW, Chronis-Tuscano A, Yi R. Exposure to maternal depressive symptoms and growth in adolescent substance use: The mediating role of delay discounting. Dev Psychopathol. 2021 Oct;33(4):1279-1289. doi: 10.1017/S0954579420000486.

  PMID: 32519638 BACKGROUND

• Dassen FC, Houben K, Jansen A. Time orientation and eating behavior: Unhealthy eaters consider immediate consequences, while healthy eaters focus on future health. Appetite. 2015 Aug;91:13-9. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2015.03.020. Epub 2015 Mar 23.

  PMID: 25814191 BACKGROUND

• Felton JW, Collado A, Ingram KM, Doran K, Yi R. Improvement of Working Memory is a Mechanism for Reductions in Delay Discounting Among Mid-Age Individuals in an Urban Medically Underserved Area. Ann Behav Med. 2019 Oct 7;53(11):988-998. doi: 10.1093/abm/kaz010.

  PMID: 30955043 BACKGROUND

• Lin H, Epstein LH. Living in the moment: effects of time perspective and emotional valence of episodic thinking on delay discounting. Behav Neurosci. 2014 Feb;128(1):12-9. doi: 10.1037/a0035705.

  PMID: 24512061 BACKGROUND

• Moreland, A.M., Felton, J.F., Hanson, R.F., Jackson, C., & Dumas, J.E. (2016). The relation between parenting stress and parenting locus of control: Mechanisms of change in parenting interventions. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 2046-2054.

  BACKGROUND

• Snider SE, DeHart WB, Epstein LH, Bickel WK. Does delay discounting predict maladaptive health and financial behaviors in smokers? Health Psychol. 2019 Jan;38(1):21-28. doi: 10.1037/hea0000695. Epub 2018 Nov 26.

  PMID: 30474996 BACKGROUND

• Stein JS, Wilson AG, Koffarnus MN, Daniel TO, Epstein LH, Bickel WK. Unstuck in time: episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting and cigarette smoking. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2016 Oct;233(21-22):3771-3778. doi: 10.1007/s00213-016-4410-y. Epub 2016 Aug 23.

  PMID: 27553824 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Health Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior

Central Study Contacts

Julia Felton, PhD

CONTACT

704-995-7832; Jfelton4@hfhs.org

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Principal Investigator; Associate Scientist

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 17, 2023
• First Posted: November 24, 2023
• Study Start: February 6, 2024
• Primary Completion: August 31, 2025
• Study Completion: August 31, 2025
• Last Updated: May 14, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-05

Locations

US (1)