RecruitingNot ApplicableNCT05603000

Emotion Focused Family Therapy for Parents of Children With Mental Health Difficulties

A Randomized Controlled Trial of Emotion Focused Family Therapy for Parents of Children With Mental Health Difficulties

Sponsor

University of Guelph

Enrollment

200 participants

Start Date

Oct 11, 2022

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Conditions

Depression Anxiety Behavior Problem

Summary

Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) is a promising intervention that aims to teach parents advanced skills to support their child's development of emotion skills and increase their adaptive behaviours, potentially leading to improvements in their child's psychological functioning and family functioning more broadly. 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.

Eligibility

Min Age: 7 YearsMax Age: 15 Years

Plain Language Summary

Simplified for easier understanding

This study tests Emotion-Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) as a way to help parents support their children who are dealing with anxiety, depression, or behavioral problems. Rather than treating only the child, EFFT teaches parents specific skills to help their child manage emotions and recover. **You may be eligible if...** - You are a parent of a child aged 7 to 15 - Your child has anxiety, depression, or behavioral challenges - Your child is willing to participate in the therapy - You are currently living at home with your child **You may NOT be eligible if...** - You or your child do not speak or understand enough English to participate in sessions and complete questionnaires - You or your child has a severe mental health condition (such as active psychosis) that would require a different level of care - You are not living with the child Talk to your doctor to see if this trial is right for you.

This summary was AI-generated to explain the trial in plain language. It is not medical advice. Always discuss eligibility with your doctor before enrolling in a clinical trial.

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Interventions

BEHAVIORALEmotion 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.