Screening to Identify Parents in Need of Mental Health Support: a Feasibility Study in Child Welfare Services

NCT06600139 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: SSH feasibility study
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 355
• Locations: 0 countries
• Sites: N/A

Brief Summary

The main aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility, preliminary effects and experiences of the Collaboration-Screening-Referral approach (in Swedish: Samverkan-Screening-Hänvisning - SSH) when used with parents referred to the Swedish child welfare services. The SSH is an approach to screen parents for symptoms of mental illness using structured questionnaires, establish intra-agency collaboration, and refer to mental health services. Additionally, to increase social workers\' competence in assessing and handling mental illness through receiving training in the SSH and administering the screening to parents. The main questions the project aims to answer are:

• Are parents engaged with child welfare services willing to undergo screening for symptoms of depression and anxiety?
• How have the implementation of the SSH proceeded and to what degree is it sustained?
• How do parents and social workers experience the SSH?
• Do social workers' behaviors, knowledge and competence relevant to supporting parents with mental illness increase when implementing the SSH? Social workers answer questions before and after their training and after 6 and 12 months. Additionally, social workers and parents will be interviewed. Qualitative and quantitative within-group analyses will be conducted to examine experiences and preliminary effects of the SSH.

Conditions

Mental Disorder; Depression; Anxiety; Child Abuse; Child Neglect; Child Maltreatment

Keywords

Parenting; Screening; Child Maltreatment; Depression; Anxiety

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Social workers: Change from baseline in behaviors related to assessing and assisting parents with mental health challenges

  Social workers will answer a questionnaire developed for the study, consisting of 12 questions about the methods they have used in the past months to assess and assist parents with mental health challenges. The questions are scored on a scale of 0 to 4, with a higher score indicating more frequent use of methods. Responses will be summarized to a total score of 0-48 or presented at the individual item level. Follow-up questions inquire about the specific instruments and interview guides used, the circumstances under which questionnaires are administered, and allow social workers to add additional methods in free-text.

  At baseline (before the training in SSH) and at 6-months follow-up

• The proportion of parents declining to complete the screening

  Social workers will document the proportion of parents who choose not to complete the screening.

  At baseline

Secondary Outcomes (15)

• Social Workers: Change from baseline in perceived competence in supporting parents with mental health challenges

  At baseline and at 6-months follow-up

• Social workers: Description (qualitatively) of reasons not to offer the screening

  At 6 months follow-up

• Parents: Experiences of the SSH-model through individual qualitative interviews

  Approximately 2-10 weeks after baseline

• Social workers: Experiences of the SSH-model through interviews or focus groups

  Approximately 3 and 6 months after baseline

• Social workers: Change from baseline in knowledge of mental illness

  At baseline, after 2-3 weeks, and at 6-months follow-up

Study Arms (1)

The Collaboration-Screening-Referral model

EXPERIMENTAL

The Collaboration-Screening-Referral model (in Swedish: Samverkan-Screening-Hänvisning - SSH) - an approach to screen parents involved with child welfare services for symptoms of mental illness, establish intra-agency collaboration, and facilitate referrals to mental health services. Social workers are trained to employ the SSH.

Behavioral: The Collaboration-Screening-Referral (SSH) model

Interventions

The Collaboration-Screening-Referral (SSH) model BEHAVIORAL

The SSH aims to identify parents in need of mental health support and to strengthen social workers' competence in addressing mental illness. The SSH includes three components: 1) Collaborating - establishing collaboration with local services offering support to adults with mental illness, 2) Screening - using screening instruments for depression (the Patient Health Questionnaire - PHQ-9) and anxiety (GAD-7) to identify symptoms of mental illness among parents, and 3) Referral - Discussing the results of the screening with parents and referring to appropriate services. Techniques from motivational interviewing are included. Social workers receive training and material to administer the screening and refer parents in need of support.

The Collaboration-Screening-Referral model

Eligibility Criteria

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

You may qualify if:

• Working at the participating units.

You may not qualify if:

• None.
• PARENTS:
• A parental role in relation to a child 0-17 years old (the participant does need not be a guardian or biological parent, can also be, for example, a partner to a parent).
• A child welfare report has been filed for the child or the parent has reached out to the CWS themselves.
• None.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Karolinska Institutet: lead

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Mental Disorders; Depression; Anxiety Disorders

Interventions

Models, Biological

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Models, Theoretical; Investigative Techniques

Study Officials

• Martin Forster, PhD

  Karolinska Institutet

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Martin Forster, PhD

CONTACT

+46709424225; martin.forster@ki.se

Study Design

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

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 23, 2024
• First Posted: September 19, 2024
• Study Start: September 20, 2024
• Primary Completion: September 30, 2025
• Study Completion: September 30, 2025
• Last Updated: September 19, 2024

Record last verified: 2024-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share