Digital-based Psychosocial Intervention for Parents of Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders

NCT06303791 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 1905517
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 90
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to implement a structured psychosocial intervention program with digital support (randomized and with a control group) that will be conducted virtually and synchronously to families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and families of children with Attention Deficit with hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. 1.Will the program impact on different variables in the parents' domain (parental stress variables, quality of life/social support and coping skills),
2. 2.Will the program impact on different variables in the children's domain (daily life functioning, social behavioral variables, and executive functioning).
3. 3.Treatment outcomes will be assessed at pre-test, post-test, and 6-month follow-up assessment across intervention and control groups using a battery of measures of parenting stress, coping skills, social support, and children's dysfunctional outcomes

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Attention Deficit Hyper Activity

Keywords

Psychosocial program; Autism; ADHD; RCT

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (5)

• Parental stress in The Parenting Stress Index - Short Form (PSI-SF) Spanish adaptation

  The parental distress subscale is a validated parent questionnaire that measures the level of distress a parent experiences due to personal factors. The scale provides a measure of total stress by adding up the scores on the 36 items, with a total score above 90 being clinically significant. The PSI-SF presents good psychometric properties

  Baseline and week 12 and week 36

• Social support: The Social Functional Support Questionnaire Duke-UNC

  The Social Functional Support is a validated parent report Questionnaire that measures the subjects' perception of the availability of help from family and friends in difficult situations. The instrument comprises 11 questions with a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 = "much less than I would like" to 5 = "as much as I would like". Scores of less than 32 indicate low perceived social support. The questionnaire presents good psychometric properties

  Baseline and week 12 and week 36

• Coping Skills using The Brief COPE

  The Brief COPE is a validated parent questionnaire that measures the usage frequencies of broad-based maladaptive and adaptive coping strategies. Items are rated on a four-point rating scale ranging from 1= 'I haven't been doing this at all' to 4= 'I've been doing this a lot'. The psychometric properties of the Brief COPE are good

  Baseline and week 12 and week 36

• Children's social problems using Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)

  The SDQ is a validated parent report questionnaire. This questionnaire has 25 items and is designed for children from 4 to 16 years old. The items are divided into 5 subscales: Emotional symptoms, Behavioral problems, Hyperactivity, Peer relationship problems, and Prosocial behaviors. In addition, it has a total difficulty score of behavioral problems obtained by adding together all the subscales except prosocial behavior. The items are scored on a Likert-type scale from 1 (not true) to 3 (completely true). On all the scales, a higher score implies greater difficulty, except the prosocial behavior scale, where a higher score is more positive than a lower one. The questionnaire presents good psychometric properties

  Baseline and week 12 and week 36

• Daily life executive functioning using the BRIEF

  The Behavioral Rating Inventory of Executive Function (BRIEF-2 Family report is a questionnaire completed by a relative/caregiver, which assesses daily executive functions. It consists of 63 items that are answered on a frequency scale (never, sometimes, and frequently). The raw scores are transformed into age-corrected T-scores. A score greater than 70 on any of the scales indicates clinically significant difficulties. Very high internal consistency has been reported

  Baseline and week 12 and week 36

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Children Sleep problems: using The Sleep Disturbance Scale for Children (SDSC)

  Baseline and week 12 and week 36

• Behavioral problems using The Weiss Functional Impairment Rating Scale-Parent Form (WFIRS-P)

  Baseline and week 12 and week 36

• Children Learning Behavior using Learning behavior scale (LBS)

  Baseline and week 12 and week 36

Study Arms (2)

Digital Psychosocial Intervention group

EXPERIMENTAL

The intervention group will be made up of five successive groups of 8 to 10 families that will receive 12 weekly 90-minute sessions in a synchronous virtual mode by zoom platform The integrity of the sessions will be guaranteed by a digital manual that clearly outlined all the procedures to be used in the intervention. Additionally, sessions will be audiotaped and reviewed by a team member through a checklist to ensure groups receive equivalent set of information.

Behavioral: Digital Psychosocial intervention

Control group

NO INTERVENTION

The control group of parents will be made up of another five successive groups of 8 to 10 families who will receive 12 sessions weekly 90 minutes. In these sessions these families will be encouraged to discuss their thoughts and share their experiences in a non-directive environment. The therapist will not be allowed to provide specific psychotherapy, psychoeducation or psychosocial techniques, nor any additional comments or information, but rather to guide the groups and allow everyone to express and give their personal point of view. The use of an active control group will ensure that the observed benefits are primarily due to the digitally supported psychosocial program only.

Interventions

Digital Psychosocial intervention BEHAVIORAL

The psychosocial program with digital support has been developed by combining different theoretical perspectives on intervention in children with ASD without intellectual disabilities and children with ADHD. The contents of the program are based on three main approaches, each of which has separately demonstrated evidence in the treatment of these neurodevelopmental disorders: psychoeducation and stress management, cognitive behavioral techniques, and techniques in social and communication skills (Dahl et al., 2020; DuPaul et al., 2020; Tan-MacNeill et al., 2021).

Digital Psychosocial Intervention group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 7 Years - 11 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• \) diagnosis of ASD according to Autistic Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R; Rutter at al., 2006), and/or the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Generic (ADOS G; Lord et al., 2000) confirmed by child psychologist or ADHD any presentation according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition DSM-V; APA, (2013)\] for parents and teachers
• \) IQ\> 80
• \) age of children between 7 and 11 years, either sex
• \) informed consent of the parents and the children available
• \) parents' age greater than or equal to 18 years
• \) responsibility and legal capacity in parents and access to internet.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Valencia: lead

Study Sites (1)

University of Valencia

Valencia, 46010, Spain

Location

Related Publications (12)

• Davis NO, Kollins SH. Treatment for co-occurring attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder. Neurotherapeutics. 2012 Jul;9(3):518-30. doi: 10.1007/s13311-012-0126-9.

  PMID: 22678458 BACKGROUND

• Young S, Hollingdale J, Absoud M, Bolton P, Branney P, Colley W, Craze E, Dave M, Deeley Q, Farrag E, Gudjonsson G, Hill P, Liang HL, Murphy C, Mackintosh P, Murin M, O'Regan F, Ougrin D, Rios P, Stover N, Taylor E, Woodhouse E. Guidance for identification and treatment of individuals with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder based upon expert consensus. BMC Med. 2020 May 25;18(1):146. doi: 10.1186/s12916-020-01585-y.

  PMID: 32448170 BACKGROUND

• van Steijn DJ, Oerlemans AM, van Aken MA, Buitelaar JK, Rommelse NN. The reciprocal relationship of ASD, ADHD, depressive symptoms and stress in parents of children with ASD and/or ADHD. J Autism Dev Disord. 2014 May;44(5):1064-76. doi: 10.1007/s10803-013-1958-9.

  PMID: 24114582 BACKGROUND

• Craig F, Operto FF, De Giacomo A, Margari L, Frolli A, Conson M, Ivagnes S, Monaco M, Margari F. Parenting stress among parents of children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders. Psychiatry Res. 2016 Aug 30;242:121-129. doi: 10.1016/j.psychres.2016.05.016. Epub 2016 Jun 1.

  PMID: 27280521 BACKGROUND

• Siegenthaler-Hierro R, Presentacion-Herrero MJ, Colomer-Diago C, Miranda-Casas A. [Moderators of psychosocial intervention in preschoolers with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder]. Rev Neurol. 2013 Feb 22;56 Suppl 1:S85-92. Spanish.

  PMID: 23446728 BACKGROUND

• DuPaul GJ, Evans SW, Mautone JA, Owens JS, Power TJ. Future Directions for Psychosocial Interventions for Children and Adolescents with ADHD. J Clin Child Adolesc Psychol. 2020 Jan-Feb;49(1):134-145. doi: 10.1080/15374416.2019.1689825. Epub 2019 Dec 4.

  PMID: 31799864 RESULT

• Montoya A, Colom F, Ferrin M. Is psychoeducation for parents and teachers of children and adolescents with ADHD efficacious? A systematic literature review. Eur Psychiatry. 2011 Apr;26(3):166-75. doi: 10.1016/j.eurpsy.2010.10.005. Epub 2011 Feb 2.

  PMID: 21292454 RESULT

• Ferrin M, Moreno-Granados JM, Salcedo-Marin MD, Ruiz-Veguilla M, Perez-Ayala V, Taylor E. Evaluation of a psychoeducation programme for parents of children and adolescents with ADHD: immediate and long-term effects using a blind randomized controlled trial. Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2014 Aug;23(8):637-47. doi: 10.1007/s00787-013-0494-7. Epub 2013 Dec 1.

  PMID: 24292412 RESULT

• Tan-McNeill, K. M., Smith, I. M., Johnson, S. A., Chorney, J., & Corkum, P. (2021). A systematic review of online parent-implemented interventions for children with neurodevelopmental disorders. Children's Health Care, 1-39.

  RESULT

• Sonuga-Barke EJ, Daley D, Thompson M, Laver-Bradbury C, Weeks A. Parent-based therapies for preschool attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a randomized, controlled trial with a community sample. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2001 Apr;40(4):402-8. doi: 10.1097/00004583-200104000-00008.

  PMID: 11314565 RESULT

• Sadeghi S, Pouretemad HR, Shalani B. Internet-based versus face-to-face intervention training for parents of young children with excessive screen-time and autism spectrum disorder-like symptoms: a comparative study. Int J Dev Disabil. 2021 Mar 8;68(5):744-755. doi: 10.1080/20473869.2021.1895699. eCollection 2022.

  PMID: 36210895 RESULT

• Pardo-Salamanca A, Gomez S, Santamarina C, Pastor G, Berenguer C. The effectiveness of an online-based psychosocial program for parents of children with neurodevelopmental disorders - a randomized controlled trial. Child Adolesc Ment Health. 2025 Nov 5. doi: 10.1111/camh.70044. Online ahead of print.

  PMID: 41193165 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autistic Disorder; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Mental Disorders; Attention Deficit and Disruptive Behavior Disorders

Study Officials

• Carmen Berenguer, PhD

  University of Valencia

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Masking Details: Families/children who meet the inclusion criteria will be randomly assigned to one of the two conditions (intervention group or control group) using a controlled design. Block randomization will be applied to each of the diagnostic groups (ASD, ADHD) to ensure that participants were of approximately similar size (1:1 ratio) in the treatment and control conditions. After determining the size of each block in the sample (#ASD and #ADHD) the treatment allocation of each individual participant will be done randomly.A blind procedure will be used: participating families will not know the group to which participants will be assigned, and the researchers who will collect and enter the data will also have no knowledge of the condition to which the families will be assigned.
• Purpose: TREATMENT
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Profesor Permanent Lecturer - Department of Developmental and Educational Psychology

Model Details: To test the proposed objectives, a design will be used with a between-groups factor (type of therapy) and a intra-groups with pre-treatment (T0), post-treatment (T1) and follow-up measurements at 6 months (T2). Participants will be randomly assigned (1:1) to the two conditions; a group that will receive the intervention of the structured psychosocial program with digital support (experimental group) and an active control group. The experimental group will undergo an evaluation prior to the intervention, one immediately after it, and a third follow-up evaluation. In the case of the control group, it will be evaluated through the pretest phases, posttest and follow-up.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 4, 2024
• First Posted: March 12, 2024
• Study Start: September 7, 2022
• Primary Completion: November 17, 2024
• Study Completion: December 1, 2024
• Last Updated: December 6, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-12

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: STUDY PROTOCOL, SAP, ANALYTIC CODE
• Time Frame: Immediately following publication. No end date.
• Access Criteria: Anyone who wishes to access the data.

Locations

ES (1)