Differential DNA Methylation as a Function of a Parenting Intervention

December 15, 2017 updated by: Mary Dozier, University of Delaware

Differential DNA Methylation as a Function of a Parenting Intervention: A Randomized Clinical Trial

The aim of this study is to experimentally assess whether an early parenting intervention for maltreating parents results in differential epigenetic marking of children's genome, particularly of DNA associated with immune system functioning, obesity, and mental health.

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

This study assesses whether a 10-session intervention for maltreating parents effects the epigenome of young children who have experienced early maltreatment. Families are randomly assigned to the experimental condition (Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up) or a treatment control (Developmental Education for Families). Biological samples and behavioral observations of parenting will be collected pre- and post- intervention. Biological samples will be used to conduct whole genome analyses of differential DNA methylation that occur as a result of the intervention. Behavioral observations of parent-child interactions will be used to assess the efficacy of the intervention in altering parenting behaviors.

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.
44

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.
  • Not Applicable

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

6 months to 2 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Parents will be considered potentially eligible if they have a child between the ages of 6 and 20 months and have a history of substantiated or unsubstantiated report of maltreatment or domestic violence. After obtaining informed consent, observational assessments of sensitivity will be conducted, allowing screening of parents with low levels of sensitivity (who are expected to benefit more from the intervention than others). Only those parents who have scores in the insensitive range will be included in the full study.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Children with known serious medical issues (e.g., cerebral palsy) will be excluded from the sample. Also, high-risk parents will be screened for sensitivity to ensure that they will benefit from the intervention. Only those who are screened as relatively insensitive (1-2 on a 5 point coding scale) will be included in the full study.
  • If the primary caregiver loses custody of the child before completion of the project, the participant will be withdrawn from the study.
  • If the primary caregiver is incarcerated before completion of the study, the subject will be withdrawn from the study.

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: Double

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: Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up
Behavioral: Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-Up
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC) is a 10-session, weekly intervention delivered in the family's home. ABC addresses three primary issues. First, young children who have experienced early adversity are especially in need of nurturance and parents who behave in synchronous ways and delight in them. Next, when parents behave in frightening ways, it is difficult for children to look to them for reassurance when distressed. This can be particularly difficult for children who have experienced early adversity. Therefore, this intervention helps parents learn how to: 1) behave in nurturing ways when children are distressed; 2) behave in synchronous, delighted ways when children are not distressed; and 3) avoid behaving in frightening or intrusive ways. Interventionists are provided with a manualized protocol, but tailor specific session content to each family's needs. Sessions are videotaped, both for playback to families, and for supervision.
Active Comparator: Developmental Education for Families
Behavioral: Developmental Education for Families
Developmental Education for Families (DEF) is a 10-session, weekly intervention delivered in the family's home. DEF focuses on enhancing gross and fine motor skills, cognition and language development. The age-based protocols (i.e., 6-24 months,) provide information about the developmental themes of focus for each week and suggest activities to enhance the target skills for that week. However, the protocols do not provide a direct script with which to conduct the sessions. Interventionists tailor the developmental program session to the needs of the child and family by considering the child's current gross, fine, cognitive and language skills and creatively preparing several activities that will address the session topics.

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
Time Frame
Whole Genome DNA Methylation
Time Frame: from date of enrollment to 1 month after completing the intervention
from date of enrollment to 1 month after completing the intervention

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
Time Frame
Parental Sensitivity
Time Frame: On date of enrollment, each intervention session, and 1 month after completing the intervention
On date of enrollment, each intervention session, and 1 month after completing the intervention

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 Delaware

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 (Actual)

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.
December 9, 2013

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.
December 16, 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.
February 10, 2017

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).
December 12, 2017

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.
December 12, 2017

First Posted (Actual)

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.
December 15, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

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.
December 19, 2017

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.
December 15, 2017

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.
December 1, 2017

More Information

Terms related to this study

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.
  • 511457

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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