Families of Youth with Developmental Disabilities: a Theory-Based Intervention

November 13, 2024 updated by: University of Notre Dame
This study is designed to evaluate a preventive intervention program designed to support families (parents and typically developing adolescent siblings) that include a child with an intellectual and/or developmental disability. Participant families will be randomly assigned to either the treatment condition, in which they will receive psychoeducation and communication coaching over a four-week period, or the control condition, in which they will receive self-study materials. All subjects will participate in a pre-test assessment and three post-test assessments over the course of the year.

Study Overview

Status

Status

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

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

A critical need exists for an evidence-based program to ameliorate the impact of family stress and conflict on the overall well-being of parents and TD siblings, as well as individuals with IDD. Our objective in this study is to test the efficacy for parents, TD siblings, and children with IDD of an adaptation of the psycho-educational and communication training approach used in a previously validated prevention/intervention program for community families, and to examine the mechanisms associated with change processes that occur as a result of the 4-week program. Our long-term goal is to increase the availability and affordability of empirically-supported family-systems approaches to reduce family stress and conflict in families of individuals with IDD. Our central hypothesis is that participation in the program will support the identified needs of families with a child with IDD, improve the well-being and adjustment of parents, increase emotional security and adjustment for TD siblings, and be associated with improvements in adaptive functioning for individuals with IDD. This central hypothesis is supported by promising qualitative evidence and preliminary analyses from an ongoing pilot study using the adapted curriculum included in the present proposal. Our rationale is that providing a family-systems approach to improving the family environment will support the well-being of each family member, including the child with IDD. The specific aims are: (1) determining the efficacy of the program for parents, (2a) determining the efficacy of the program for typically developing siblings, (2b) testing process models, guided by the Emotional Security Theory (EST; Davies & Cummings, 1994), to explain how and why and for whom and when changes occur as a result of the program, and (3) examining the impact of the program on individuals with IDD. Families (n=150) that include a child with IDD and a TD sibling between 11 and 17 years of age, will be randomly assigned to one of two groups: (1) parent and typically developing sibling intervention, or (2) resource only control. Multi-method assessments of all family members will be obtained at pre- and post-intervention visits, and 6-month and 1-year follow-ups. The approach is innovative because it addresses multiple family members' needs, tests theory about explanatory models for program impact, and utilizes a brief, psycho-educational format and a RCT design to evaluate its efficacy. This research is significant because it will create an inexpensive model program for family-system-level interventions for families of children with IDD, benefiting parents, siblings and the child with IDD, including evaluations of program effectiveness in standing community centers.

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 (Estimated)

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.
150

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

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.
  • Name: Edward M Cummings, PhD
  • Phone Number: 574-631-4947
  • Email: ecumming@nd.edu

Study Contact Backup

  • Name: Kathleen N Bergman, PhD
  • Phone Number: 574-631-0956
  • Email: kbergman@nd.edu

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Indiana
      • Fort Wayne, Indiana, United States, 46814
        • Not yet recruiting
        • Wm. J. Shaw Center for Children and Families
        • Contact:
          • Kathleen N Bergman, PhD
          • Phone Number: 574-631-0956
          • Email: kbergman@nd.edu
      • South Bend, Indiana, United States, 46814
        • Recruiting
        • Wm. J. Shaw Center for Children and Families
        • Contact:
          • Kathleen N Bergman, PhD
          • Phone Number: 574-631-0956
          • Email: kbergman@nd.edu
        • Contact:

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Participants in all conditions will include mothers, fathers, TD siblings between 11 and 17 years old, and individuals with IDD of any age.
  • Participants must be able to understand and respond to survey questions in English
  • Parents must be cohabitating, with both participating children living in their home.
  • Individual with IDD falls into one or more of the following categories: 1) meets criteria for an intellectual disability, which would mean a measured IQ of 70-75 or lower and a measured Adaptive Functioning score of 70-75 or lower, 2) meets criteria for an Autism Spectrum Disorder based on an evaluation using the ADOS-2, SCQ, and expert clinical judgment based on DSM-5 ASD criteria, or 3) has a medically verified genetic condition (e.g., Down syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, Williams syndrome, Angelman syndrome, others) that is generally considered to be a developmental disability, and shows cognitive or adaptive functioning deficits (70-75 or below) although not necessarily deficits in both categories as would be needed for an Intellectual Disability diagnosis.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Siblings identified as typically developing will be excluded 1) with a score of 10 or higher on the SCQ-L, if a subsequent ADOS suggests that they have an ASD diagnosis, or 2) with a WASI-II score of 75 or lower.

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: Single

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: Center Sessions
Treatment condition in which participants receive psychoeducation and communication coaching.
Behavioral: Center Sessions
Program to support relationships and communication between parents and typically developing adolescent siblings of individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities.
Active Comparator: At-home
Active, self-study control condition in which participants receive regular communication with study personnel and self-study materials to review on their own.
Behavioral: At-home
Self-study resources paired with regular contact with study personnel.

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
Change in marital satisfaction -- Short Marital Adjustment Scale (SMAT)
Time Frame: 1 year
15-item parent self-report questionnaire measuring indices of marital satisfaction, including matters of disagreement, relationship dynamics, and happiness.
1 year
Change in hostile interparental conflict -- O'Leary Porter Scales (OPS)
Time Frame: 1 year
10-item parent self-report questionnaire designed to measure overt marital hostility exhibited in front of the children.
1 year
Change in family functioning -- Family Environment Scale (FES)
Time Frame: 1 year
27-item self-report measure that assesses dimensions of family functioning, specifically, the social domain of family relationships (cohesion, expressiveness, and conflict) to be completed by parents and typically developing siblings.
1 year
Change in typically developing siblings' perception of interparental conflict -- Children's Perception of Inter-parental Conflict (CPIC)
Time Frame: 1 year
19-item self-report questionnaire that captures three dimensions of marital conflict (frequency, intensity, and resolution) perceived by children.
1 year
Change in typically developing siblings' levels of attachment to parents -- Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA)
Time Frame: 1 year
25-item self-report questionnaire designed to assess adolescents' perceptions of the positive and negative affective dimension of relationships with their parents and peers. Typically developing siblings complete two forms (father and mother) on three scales: trust, communication, and alienation.
1 year
Change in typically developing siblings' emotional security -- Security in the Subsystem (SIS) and Security in the Family System (SIFS)
Time Frame: 1 year
The SIS is a child-report of the feelings and behaviors experienced when witnessing marital conflict. The SIFS is a self-report measure of adolescents' security in the family as a whole. Scores will be used in latent variables as a broad indicator of typically developing siblings' emotional security.
1 year
Change in typically developing siblings' adjustment -- Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)
Time Frame: 1 year
25-item parent-report measure of prosocial behavior and psychopathology in their children.
1 year
Change in typically developing siblings' behavior -- Youth Self-Report (YSR)
Time Frame: 1 year
Adolescent self-report measure of perceived externalizing and internalizing behaviors.
1 year
Change in typically developing siblings' depressive symptomatology -- Child Depression Inventory (CDI)
Time Frame: 1 year
27-item self-report questionnaire measuring the extent of depression symptoms in children.
1 year
Change on parents' depressive symptomatology - Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II)
Time Frame: 1 year
Parent self-report measure used to assess the severity of depression symptoms.
1 year
Change in parents' problem drinking behaviors -- Parental Alcohol Experiences scale (PAE)
Time Frame: 1 year
Parent self-report measure that provides a continuous measure of parental problem drinking.
1 year
Change in the quality of family conflict interactions -- Family Interactions Coding System (FICS)
Time Frame: 1 year
Video recorded quadratic (parent, TD sibling, child with IDD) interactions during which families discuss a topic of conflict are coded using an observational coding system to assess overall levels of constructiveness, destructiveness and resolution.
1 year
Change in the quality of couples' conflict interactions -- Family Interactions Coding System (FICS)
Time Frame: 1 year
Video recorded dyadic (interparental) interactions during which couples discuss a topic of conflict are coded using an observational coding system to assess overall levels of constructiveness, destructiveness and resolution.
1 year
Change in family interactions in the home -- Daily Diaries
Time Frame: 6 months
Parents complete 15 daily diaries following the 6-month and 12-month follow up assessments comprising of self-reports on the occurrence and quality of daily interparental and parent-child interactions.
6 months

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
Change in adaptive functioning for individuals with IDD - Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales II
Time Frame: 1 year
Parent report measure describing skills and skill development in individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. Subscales focus on four domains: (1) Communication, (b) Daily Living Skills, (c) Socialization, and (d) Motor Skills. The domain composite scores make up the overall Adaptive Behavior Composite. The Internalizing and Externalizing subscales, and one subset of items labeled "Other" make up the optional Maladaptive Behavior Index. This index provides a measure of undesirable behaviors that may interfere with an individual's adaptive behavior.
1 year

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 Notre Dame

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: Edward M Cummings, PhD, University of Notre Dame

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.
August 4, 2017

Primary Completion (Estimated)

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 31, 2024

Study Completion (Estimated)

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.
December 31, 2024

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 24, 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.
April 4, 2018

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.
April 12, 2018

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.
November 15, 2024

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.
November 13, 2024

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.
November 1, 2024

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.
  • 16-1246

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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