Emotion Focused Family Therapy for Parents of Children With Mental Health Difficulties
NCT ID: NCT05603000
Last Updated: 2026-01-23
Study Results
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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RECRUITING
NA
200 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2022-10-11
2027-03-31
Brief Summary
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This randomized controlled trial (RCT; EFFT vs waitlist control) will (1) test the efficacy of a 6-week group EFFT program on parent and child outcomes and (2) examine maintenance of treatment gains up to four months post-intervention.
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Detailed Description
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The RCT will also test proposed mechanisms of change (parent-child relationship quality, family functioning) and moderators of treatment effectiveness (parental stress).
Conditions
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Study Design
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RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
TREATMENT
DOUBLE
Study Groups
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Waitlist (delayed intervention)
No treatment will be administered to participants in this arm until after the 4-month follow-up in-lab assessment is completed.
No interventions assigned to this group
EFFT intervention
Treatment (6-week group Emotion Focused Family Therapy) will be administered to participants in this arm.
Emotion Focused Family Therapy
The Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) intervention for this study will be delivered to groups of four to ten parents over six weekly sessions of two hours each. The goal of EFFT is to teach and empower parents to coach their child to process the emotions at the source of their mental health symptoms, to increase their child's adaptive behaviours, and to repair emotional injuries within the parent-child relationship. EFFT also targets parents' own emotional challenges that may prevent them from feeling capable or being able to support their child's treatment.
Each EFFT session will include introductions, psychoeducation about emotion and psychopathology, introduction of skills, experiential activities (e.g., chair work), open discussion and feedback, and homework activities covering the foci of EFFT: emotion coaching, behaviour coaching, therapeutic apology, and parental emotion blocks.
Interventions
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Emotion Focused Family Therapy
The Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) intervention for this study will be delivered to groups of four to ten parents over six weekly sessions of two hours each. The goal of EFFT is to teach and empower parents to coach their child to process the emotions at the source of their mental health symptoms, to increase their child's adaptive behaviours, and to repair emotional injuries within the parent-child relationship. EFFT also targets parents' own emotional challenges that may prevent them from feeling capable or being able to support their child's treatment.
Each EFFT session will include introductions, psychoeducation about emotion and psychopathology, introduction of skills, experiential activities (e.g., chair work), open discussion and feedback, and homework activities covering the foci of EFFT: emotion coaching, behaviour coaching, therapeutic apology, and parental emotion blocks.
Other Intervention Names
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Parent of child is willing to participate in intervention
* Parent is living at home with the child
Exclusion Criteria
* Parent or child with a severe mental health disorder (e.g., active suicidality and psychosis) is not considered suitable for the trial intervention due to the clinical need for immediate intervention
* Parent or child is actively receiving, or due to receive, intensive psychological intervention focused on cognitive and/or behavioural strategies to intervene with emotional or behavioural difficulties
* Parent or child has any disabilities in language, speech or hearing that would interfere with their completion of the EFFT and measures
* Parent or child are allergic to adhesive electrode gel use in some tasks (i.e., sodium chloride)
7 Years
15 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
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University of Guelph
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Kristel Thomassin
Associate Professor
Principal Investigators
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Kristel Thomassin, Ph.D
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
University of Guelph
Locations
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Maplewoods Centre for Family Therapy and Child Psychology, University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada
Countries
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Central Contacts
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References
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Other Identifiers
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EFFT
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id
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