Enhancing Mother-Child Ties and Psychosocial Wellness Through Arts Among Children With Intellectual Disability and Their Mothers

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

RECRUITING

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

154 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2022-07-09

Study Completion Date

2025-12-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The caregiving of children with intellectual disability (ID) is intensive and challenging. Caregivers, particularly mothers, are left in a vulnerable and stressful condition. Children with ID may experience difficulties in expressing emotions and may have behavioral or emotional problems. These difficulties impose extra challenges for the parents to understand and interact with their children with ID. Existing intervention programs for families having children with ID primarily focus on problem-and-emotion-focused measures. While strategies focusing on improving parent-child relationships, mother-child communication, and wellness of the dyads are limited.

Expressive arts-based intervention (EXAT) adopts multiple art modalities for achieving therapeutic goals. It can bypass verbal expression and complicated cognitive processing during interactions, and it is also safe, engaging, enjoyable, and empowering. While existing evidence supports the use of arts-based intervention on children and their parents, there is a limited understanding of the application of dyadic EXAT on the mother-child relationship and their wellness.

The main objective of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the dyadic Expressive Arts-based Intervention (EXAT) on the psychosocial well-being of mother-child dyads. Primary outcomes include parent-child relationship, parenting stress, and caregiver burnout; secondary outcomes include mother's affect and quality of life; child's mood, emotional expression, behavioral and emotional problems.

This study adopts a mixed-methods design with quantitative, qualitative, and art-based assessment methods. This study is a randomized controlled trial, running for 3 years for evaluating the effectiveness of the dyadic Expressive Arts-based Intervention (EXAT). 154 Chinese mother-child dyads will be randomized into (i) a dyadic EXAT group or (ii) a treatment-as-usual waitlist control group.

Quantitative analysis will be adopted to investigate the effectiveness of the dyadic intervention on the psychosocial outcomes of children with ID and their caregiving mothers. The qualitative component will consist of longitudinal in-depth interviews with mothers to understand the experiences, perceived changes, and factors that facilitate the process. Art-based assessment will also be used to understand the changes in the emotional expression of children with ID. Data collected will be triangulated to provide an integrative evaluation of the effectiveness of the intervention.

Related Clinical Trials

Explore similar clinical trials based on study characteristics and research focus.

Dyadic Creative Arts Therapies-based Intervention for Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities

NCT06541782

Intellectual Disabilities Global Developmental Delay

RECRUITING NA

Effectiveness of Caregiver-involved Group-based NDBIs Intervention for Autistic Preschoolers

NCT06221943

Autism Spectrum Disorder

RECRUITING NA

Effectiveness of Music Therapy in Social Skill Intervention for Children With ASD/ID

NCT04557488

Autism Spectrum Disorder Intellectual Disability

COMPLETED NA

Influence and Mechanism of Dyadic Coping on Parenting Stress and Parenting Self-Efficacy in Parents of Preterm Infant

NCT05592210

Premature Infant Disease

UNKNOWN

The Effect of Self-efficacy and Relationship Through Behavior Modification by Hybrid Mode

NCT05827952

Caregivers With Toddler Receiving Early Intervention

COMPLETED NA

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Intellectual Disability Mother-Child Relations

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Investigators

Due to the nature of this trial, neither the staff, participants, nor care provider can be masked to allocation. The data analyst will be blinded during the data analysis process.

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Intervention

Participants in the intervention arm will receive Dyadic Expressive Arts Group Therapy as an intervention.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

The Dyadic Expressive Arts Group Therapy

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

This therapy utilizes different art modalities, such as visual art, music, movement, dance, drama, and writing, as therapeutic means. With multiple sensory stimulations from different art forms, the therapy facilitates communication, expression, perception, and interactions. The therapy consists of 8 weekly 90 minutes sessions, with 3-4 mother-child dyads in each therapy group. Each session will follow the basic structure of Expressive Arts Therapy, including check-in, warm-up, core art-making, sharing, and closure. The following themes related to the mother-child relationship will be included, such as communication, relationship, expression, empathy, interaction, love, gratitude, and connection.

The Treatment-as-usual Waitlist Control Group

Participants in the control group will continue their routine healthcare and social services. Upon completion of the 8-month study period, participants will be invited to a similar intervention group program.

Group Type NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

The Dyadic Expressive Arts Group Therapy

This therapy utilizes different art modalities, such as visual art, music, movement, dance, drama, and writing, as therapeutic means. With multiple sensory stimulations from different art forms, the therapy facilitates communication, expression, perception, and interactions. The therapy consists of 8 weekly 90 minutes sessions, with 3-4 mother-child dyads in each therapy group. Each session will follow the basic structure of Expressive Arts Therapy, including check-in, warm-up, core art-making, sharing, and closure. The following themes related to the mother-child relationship will be included, such as communication, relationship, expression, empathy, interaction, love, gratitude, and connection.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

* The child is 6-12 years old (primary school student);
* The child is diagnosed with mild to moderate ID, IQ score ranges from 35 to 69 (based on the assessment conducted by certified clinicians);
* By the judgement of the health/school professional staff, the child is capable of responding to assessments and participating in group activities;
* The dyad is willing and able to give consent for participation.

Exclusion Criteria

* The dyad is currently participating in any other behavioral or pharmacological trial
* Either member of the dyad have other contraindications or severe comorbidities that may impair their full participation (e.g., severe physical disabilities)

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No