Stepped Care for Young Children After Trauma

April 23, 2015 updated by: University of South Florida
The aim of this R34 study is to develop and test the feasibility of a Stepped Care intervention for young children with Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Phase I will focus on developing and testing the feasibility of Stepped Care Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (SC-TF-CBT) in a small open trial (N=10). Phase II will consist of a randomized controlled trial (N=54) examining the efficacy of SC-TF-CBT relative to standard Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (TF-CBT)on a number of outcome measures, treatment acceptability and satisfaction, and costs of treatment delivery. Findings from this pilot study will establish the feasibility and preliminary efficacy (see Kraemer et al., 2006) of SC-TF-CBT before progressing to a larger, randomized R01 to examine the effectiveness of SC-TF-CBT for early childhood PTSD.

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Completed

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Detailed Description

Young children who are exposed to traumatic events such as abuse, disasters, accidents, illnesses, injury and the death of a person close to them are at risk for developing PTSD. While effective treatments for childhood PTSD exist, novel interventions that are more accessible, efficient, and cost-effective are needed to improve access to evidence-based treatment. The purpose of this study is to develop and test the feasibility of an intervention called Stepped Care Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy which has the potential to greatly improve service delivery approaches to make treatment more accessible and less costly, thereby reducing childhood PTSD and related societal impacts and costs.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
63

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • Phase 2
  • Phase 1

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Florida
      • Tampa, Florida, United States, 33613-1238
        • Crisis Center of Tampa Bay

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

3 years to 7 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Child must have experienced at least one traumatic event after the age of 36 months.
  2. At least five Postttraumatic stress symptoms with one symptom of reexperiencing or one symptom of avoidance.
  3. Child must be between 3 and 7 years of age at the time of enrollment.
  4. The parent must be willing and able to participate in the treatment and complete informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Psychosis, mental retardation, autism, or related pervasive developmental disorders in child or any condition that would limit the caregiver's ability to understand CBT and the child's ability to follow instructions.
  2. Parent has had substance use disorder within the past 3 months.
  3. Child or parent is suicidal (the DIPA will be used to screen for child suicidal ideation and the SCID-RV will be used to screen for parent suicide ideation; assessed by all available information). A delayed entry once the parent or child is stabilized (at least 6 months post suicidal) and not having suicidal ideation will be allowed.
  4. Child or parent is not fluent in English.
  5. Child is currently taking psychotropic medication and is not on a stable medication regimen for at least 4 weeks prior to admission to the study. If appropriate, a delayed entry will be allowed so that once a child is on a stable dosage the child may be enrolled in the study.
  6. Child is receiving trauma-focused psychotherapy when study treatment is provided.
  7. Parent or caregiver who would be treatment participant was the perpetrator, or the child was perpetrated by a person who still lives in the home (e.g. mother's boyfriend, sibling).

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Experimental: Stepped Care TF-CBT
Patients will receive step one: 3 (1 hr.) in-office therapist-led sessions over 6 weeks, the parent-child workbook (Stepping Together), scheduled weekly phone meetings (15 minutes), and information from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network website (via web or paper for those without access). Children who do not meet responder status will receive step two: 9 (1 to 1.5 hr.) in-office therapist-directed sessions of TF-CBT over 6 to 8 weeks.
Behavioral: Stepped Care TF-CBT
Stepped Care TF-CBT patients will receive step one: 3 (1 hr.) in-office therapist-led sessions over 6 weeks, the parent-child workbook (Stepping Together), scheduled weekly phone meetings (15 minutes), and information from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network website (via web or paper for those without access). Children who do not meet responder status will receive step two: 9 (1 to 1.5 hr.) in-office therapist-directed sessions of TF-CBT over 6 to 8 weeks.
Active Comparator: Standard TF-CBT
Patients will receive 12 (1 to 1.5 hr.) standard weekly in-office therapist-directed sessions over 12 to 14 weeks (Phase II only). The 2 additional weeks allow for scheduling difficulty. Standard TF-CBT includes child, parent and conjoint parent-child sessions addressing the core trauma treatment components discussed in section a.3 (e.g. stress management, skill building, gradual exposure, & trauma narrative etc.).
Behavioral: Standard TF-CBT
Standard TF-CBT patients will receive 12 (1 to 1.5 hr.) standard weekly in-office therapist-directed sessions over 12 to 14 weeks (Phase II only). The 2 additional weeks allow for scheduling difficulty. Standard TF-CBT includes child, parent and conjoint parent-child sessions addressing the core trauma treatment components discussed in section a.3 (e.g. stress management, skill building, gradual exposure, & trauma narrative etc.).

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Posttraumatic stress symptoms
Time Frame: baseline, week 14, and 3 month follow up
Change from baseline in Diagnostic Preschool Infant Assessment PTSD module (DIPA; Scheeringa, 2010) and in the Trauma Symptom Checklist for Young Children (Briere et al., 2001) at 14 weeks and 3 month follow up
baseline, week 14, and 3 month follow up

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Externalizing behaviors
Time Frame: baseline and week 14 and 3 month follow up
Change from baseline in the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) externalizing behaviors at 14 weeks and 3 month follow up
baseline and week 14 and 3 month follow up
Internalizing behaviors
Time Frame: baseline, week 14 and 3 month follow up
Change from baseline in the Child Behavior Checklist (Achenbach & Rescorla, 2000) internalizing behaviors at week 14 and 3 month follow up
baseline, week 14 and 3 month follow up
Independent Evaluator-rated PTSD symptom and impairment severity
Time Frame: baseline, week 14 and 3 month follow up
Change from baseline in clinical global impression severity (NIMH, 1985)at week 14 and 3 month follow up
baseline, week 14 and 3 month follow up
Global improvement
Time Frame: baseline, week 14 and 3 month follow up
Change from baseline in clinical global impression - improvement (Guy, 1976)at week 14 and 3 month follow up
baseline, week 14 and 3 month follow up

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
University of South Florida

Investigators

Investigators

A researcher involved in a clinical study. Related terms include site principal investigator, site sub-investigator, study chair, study director, and study principal investigator.
  • Principal Investigator: Alison A Salloum, PhD, University of South Florida

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
July 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
August 1, 2014

Study Completion (Actual)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
November 1, 2014

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
May 9, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
May 18, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
May 23, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
April 24, 2015

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
April 23, 2015

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
April 1, 2015

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • 1R34MH092373-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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