Intergenerational Transmission of Traumatic Stress

NCT ID: NCT05264415

Last Updated: 2024-11-29

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

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

65 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2021-10-06

Study Completion Date

2024-11-04

Brief Summary

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Millions of U.S. parents have experienced trauma, putting them at risk for maladaptive parenting practices, which then confer vulnerabilities to their children. This study aims to enhance understanding of how parental emotional dysregulation associated with traumatic stress impedes effective parenting. The study employs neurophysiological methods (electroencephalogram; EEG) to address some of the challenges inherent in the study of emotion (particularly in trauma-exposed individuals) and to identify potential biomarkers of traumatic stress and response to intervention.

Detailed Description

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This research study consists of a randomized controlled trial of 60 families of preschool-aged children in which a parent/caregiver has their own history of childhood interpersonal trauma or loss.

Parent/caregiver participants and their preschool-aged child will participate in two phases of assessment (baseline/Time 1 and follow-up/Time 2). Each phase of assessment will include parent/caregiver participant completion of self-report questionnaire measures, a parent-child interaction task (which will be video-recorded for later behavioral coding) and a parent EEG assessment. After the Time 1 (T1) assessments, participants will be randomized to either the FOCUS-Early Childhood Program group (n = 30; experimental group) or the parent education curriculum website group (n = 30; active comparator group).

The T2 assessment phase will begin at 3-months post-baseline. The FOCUS-EC Program is an 8-week program, so families should have completed the program by 3 months post-baseline. In the event that a family that was randomized to the FOCUS-EC Program group has not completed the program by the 3-month mark, the T2 assessment will be initiated once the program has been completed (up to 6 months post-baseline).

Conditions

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Stress, Psychological Stress Disorders, Traumatic Emotion Regulation Behavior, Child Emotional Stress Trauma, Psychological Anxiety Depression Coping Skills Parent-Child Relations Parenting

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Families Over-Coming Under Stress-Early Childhood Program (FOCUS-EC)

FOCUS-EC is a trauma-informed, family-level, skill building program that provides developmental guidance, parent education, and key resilience skills that promote positive individual and family coping (including emotional regulation, problem solving, goal setting, communication, and management of trauma \& loss reminders), which foster parent-child and family cohesion. It is delivered in approximately 8 weekly sessions (including approximately six 60-minute sessions with parent/caregivers only, and two 30-60 minute sessions with children and parent/caregivers together). Each session is structured with a check-in, review of the previous week's "home activity," new skills-based activity and discussion, selection of a new "home activity," and a closing check-out. FOCUS-EC promotes parenting skills and more cohesive family relationships in two key phases: 1) creating a family timeline and 2) enhancing parent-child interactions.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Families OverComing Under Stress (FOCUS) for Early Childhood (FOCUS-EC)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Trauma-informed, family-centered, skill-building preventive intervention for families with preschool-aged children.

Parenting Education Website

The Parenting Education Website includes information and high-quality parenting resources covering topics such as typical child development, common child reactions to family stress and transitions, play, positive parenting strategies, and the importance of self-care.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Parenting Education Website

Intervention Type OTHER

A website providing parenting education resources in four primary domains relevant for families with preschool-aged children (parenting, child development, transitions, and self-care).

Interventions

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Families OverComing Under Stress (FOCUS) for Early Childhood (FOCUS-EC)

Trauma-informed, family-centered, skill-building preventive intervention for families with preschool-aged children.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Parenting Education Website

A website providing parenting education resources in four primary domains relevant for families with preschool-aged children (parenting, child development, transitions, and self-care).

Intervention Type OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

* Parent/caregiver (must be legal guardian) of a 3- to 6-year-old child
* Child must cohabitate with the parent/caregiver
* Parent/caregiver participant must have experienced some form of interpersonal trauma during their own childhood (e.g., abuse, neglect, witnessing domestic violence)
* Parent/caregiver must be English-speaking
* Parent/caregiver must have access to internet and Webcam

* Parent/legal guardian does not want the child to participate in the study
* Significant neurological disorder (included in pre-screening protocol)
* Active psychosis/mania (as assessed by staff)
* Significant child developmental delays (as assessed by staff)

Families excluded from the study will be provided with a list of online and/or community resources.
Minimum Eligible Age

3 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

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Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

University of California, Los Angeles

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

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Nastassia Hajal

Assistant Clinical Professor

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

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Nastassia Hajal, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of California, Los Angeles

Locations

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University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Los Angeles, California, United States

Site Status

Countries

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United States

Other Identifiers

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1K08HD097277-01A1

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

KHD097277A

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id