A Program Evaluation of the Brief Family Therapy Program in the York University Psychology Clinic

NCT07161063 | Not Yet Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: e2025-244
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Background. Children are vulnerable to mental health challenges during development. Given that youth are reliant on their parents for support, understanding the child's symptoms within the family context is critical for promoting positive change. This proposal focuses on "systemic therapy", or family-based therapy, which seeks to enhance children's mental health by improving the relationships and communication between family members (1). Most family-based therapies for treating child mental health problems are intense in duration and frequency (2), which is a barrier to access for many families. Shorter-term family therapies or what will be referred to hereafter as brief family-based therapies are effective in treating a variety of child symptoms, while also minimizing participant burden and therapy dropout (3). One type of brief family-based therapy model is the Lausanne Family Play - Brief (LFP-B), a three-session service that utilizes a play-based family observational assessment with video feedback to draw attention to and catalyze change in challenging family interactions. The LFP has been widely researched as a clinical assessment tool and has been implemented as a brief family-based therapy program (4). The current project represents the implementation and evaluation of the program in the York University Psychology Clinic (YUPC), which services children, adults, couples, and families in the Greater Toronto Area (and Ontario, broadly). The current study will be the first to evaluate the implementation, acceptability, and effectiveness of the LFP-B as a clinic service. Objectives. The aim of this project is to evaluate the LFP-B as a brief family-based clinical service offered in the YUPC. The first objective is to explore program acceptability for both clients and therapists. The investigators are interested in whether clients and therapists are satisfied with this clinical service and its processes. The second objective is to assess program effectiveness, specifically whether coparenting, family functioning, and child mental health problems improve across the course of the program and in the months following. Importance. Brief therapies with a systemic lens can increase cost-effectiveness, accessibility, and treatment retention. They also have potential to fill an apparent gap in service needs as up to three-quarters of youth with psychological concerns never receive treatment (5). Thus, brief services can provide more timely access to mental health care in Canada which have potential for reducing wait times, preventing further deterioration in mental health, and avoiding more intensive and expensive higher levels of care (e.g., acute inpatient mental health services; (6)). The LFP-B has potential to be widely used as a brief family-based therapy program with Canadian families to support child and family functioning in a timely and non-intensive manner.

Conditions

Family Relationships; Child Mental Health; Coparenting

Keywords

Brief Family Therapy; Family Systems; Coparenting; Feasibility Study; Implementation Study

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (13)

• Referral Sources

  Where participants heard about the program (e.g., social media, YUPC, employee, friend)

  Week 0

• Participants Enrolled Per month

  Number of participants enrolled per month

  Week 0

• Service Enrollment Rate

  Proportion of participants offered the service versus those who actually sign up

  Week 0

• Reasons for Non-Enrollment

  Reasons for not joining the service for those who were offered it (e.g., scheduling multiple caregivers, desire for child-focused treatment, cost, time commitment, etc.)

  Week 0

• Waitlist Duration

  Time in days from initial intake call to first phone call with clinician

  Week 0

• Participant Education

  The percentage of participants with less than or equal to a high school degree.

  Week 1

• Geographic Reach

  Cities/towns in Ontario families accessing the program reside

  Week 0

• Retention

  The percentage of participants who remain in study until the end of the follow up session.

  Week 8

• Service Uptake

  The percentage of participants reporting some reflection about coparenting outside of sessions.

  Week 8

• Client Acceptability

  Looking for the percentage of participants reporting at least 'good' on 80 % or more indicators on an Implementation Acceptability Scale that will assess attitude, burden, perceived effectiveness, and ethicality. Minimum score=7, maximum score=35. Higher scores correspond to better outcomes.

  Week 8

• Clinician Acceptability

  Looking for the percentage of clinicians reporting at least 'good' on 80 % or more indicators on an Implementation Acceptability Scale that will assess attitude, burden, perceived effectiveness, and ethicality. Minimum score=7, maximum score=35. Higher scores correspond to better outcomes.

  Week 8

• Working Alliance Inventory

  Exploratory for pattern of scores across the intervention on a Working Alliance Inventory Scale that will assess client perceptions of goals, tasks, and bonds during intervention. Scores range from 12-60 with higher scores representing greater self-reported alliance.

  Longitudinal change across week 1 to week 8

• Pre-Post Change in Parent Reported Coparenting Relationship

  Using the Coparenting Scale-Revised (McHale, 1999; unpublished manuscript). Minimum score=18, maximum score=90. Higher scores correspond to a greater frequency of outcomes.

  Pre-post change from week 1 to week 8

Secondary Outcomes (5)

• Pre-Post Change in Parenting Stress

  Pre-post change from week 1 to week 8

• Pre-Post Change in Child Reported Coparenting Relationship

  Pre-post change from week 2 to week 8

• Pre-Post Change in Parent and Child Family Adjustment

  Pre-post change from week 1 to week 8

• Pre-Post Change in Child Emotional Distress (i.e., Anger, Anxiety, and Depressive Symptoms)

  Pre-post change from week 0 to week 8

• Pre-Post Change in Child Externalizing Problems

  Pre-post change from week 1 to week 8

Study Arms (1)

Brief Family Therapy Program

EXPERIMENTAL

Families will take part in a four-session video-feedback intervention.

Behavioral: Brief Family Therapy Program

Interventions

Brief Family Therapy Program BEHAVIORAL

The Lausanne Family Play - Brief is a video-feedback intervention adapted for families seeking support for a child two to nine years old with a mental health challenge. Feedback focuses on engagement, teamwork, conflict, and child-focused issues.

Also known as: LFP-B, Lausanne Trilogue Play-Brief (LTP-B)

Brief Family Therapy Program

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 2 Years - 9 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17)

You may qualify if:

• Both primary caregivers are over age 18 years
• Families living in Ontario, Canada
• Primary caregivers endorses caring for a child between 2 to 9 years old with a mental health challenge (e.g., anxiety, low mood, behavioural challenges) or mild/moderate levels of family distress
• Both caregivers and child agree to participate
• Family must have access to a screen (phone, tablet, computer) and internet for virtual services and recording.

You may not qualify if:

• \- Families seeking care for child who is at imminent risk of harm to self or others

Sponsors & Collaborators

• York University: lead
• University of Lausanne: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

York University

Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada

Location

Related Publications (5)

• Schleider JL, Weisz JR. Little Treatments, Promising Effects? Meta-Analysis of Single-Session Interventions for Youth Psychiatric Problems. J Am Acad Child Adolesc Psychiatry. 2017 Feb;56(2):107-115. doi: 10.1016/j.jaac.2016.11.007. Epub 2016 Nov 25.

  PMID: 28117056 BACKGROUND

• Graziano PA, Ros-Demarize R, Hare MM. Condensing parent training: A randomized trial comparing the efficacy of a briefer, more intensive version of Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (I-PCIT). J Consult Clin Psychol. 2020 Jul;88(7):669-679. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000504. Epub 2020 Apr 30.

  PMID: 32352803 BACKGROUND

• Philipp DA, Prime H, Darwiche J. An ultra-brief systemic intervention to address child mental health symptomatology. Fam Process. 2023 Jun;62(2):469-482. doi: 10.1111/famp.12875. Epub 2023 Mar 23.

  PMID: 36959726 BACKGROUND

• Carr, A. (2019). Family therapy and systemic interventions for child-focused problems: the current evidence base. Journal of Family Therapy, 41(2), 153-213. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-6427.12226

  BACKGROUND

• Karam, E. A., Blow, A. J., Wampler, K. S., Seedall, R. B., & Miller, R. B. (2020). Common Factors Underlying Systemic Family Therapy. In The Handbook of Systemic Family Therapy (pp. 147-169). John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119438519.ch7

  BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Heather Prime, PhD

  York University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Heather Prime, PhD

CONTACT

(416)736-5117; hprime@yorku.ca

Jessica Abrams, PhD

CONTACT

schroede@yorku.ca

Study Design

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

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 29, 2025
• First Posted: September 8, 2025
• Study Start: September 1, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2029
• Study Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2029
• Last Updated: September 12, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

CA (1)