Hold me Tight/Let me Go: Effectiveness of a Course to Enhance Parent-adolescent Relationship
University of Amsterdam
150 participants
Jun 11, 2025
OBSERVATIONAL
Conditions
Summary
HmT/LmG is a group course for 4-6 parental dyads and consists of 4 group sessions with psycho-education and skills training and 3 individual sessions per family (i.e., 1 session with the adolescent, 1 session with the parents, and 1 session with parents and adolescent together). We want to evaluate effectiveness and treatment process mechanisms applying self-reports, audio observation and interviews.
Eligibility
Inclusion Criteria7
- We will include:
- Families with one or both parents/primary caretaker (single parent or blended families are allowed) with one adolescent of 12 to 18 years of age;
- Adolescent problems are deemed to be exacerbated by a stressful parent-adolescent relationship.
- We will exclude:
- Participants in command of the Dutch language.
- Parents/primary caretakers and adolescents with severe psychopathology (e.g., psychosis, acute suicidality, severe depression) that will interfere with participation in the program.
- Parents/primary caretakers already attending systemic therapy or intensive parental guidance during the waiting period and during HmT/LmG. Other individual therapy will be registered during intake, and afterwards by the therapists. During follow-up systemic interventions are allowed but have to be registered.
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Interventions
Hold Me Tight / Let Me Go (HmT/LmG) is a manualized, group-based behavioral intervention for parents of adolescents aged 12 to 18. Grounded in Emotionally Focused Therapy (EFT) and Hold me Tight for couples. HmT/LmG aims to improve the parent-adolescent relationship by enhancing emotional validation, secure attachment, and effective communication. The intervention consists of four group sessions for parents, supplemented by three structured individual or dyadic sessions involving both parents and adolescents. Key components include psycho-education, role plays, emotion-focused conversations, and exercises targeting validation, apologizing, and supportive limit setting. Families complete pre- and post-intervention questionnaires and a follow-up assessment to evaluate changes in relationship quality and psychological well-being.
Locations(5)
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NCT06966323