Families, Responsibility, Education, Support, and Health for Executive Function (FRESH-EF)

March 2, 2026 updated by: Dawn Eichen, University of California, San Diego

Executive Function Enhanced Parent-Based Treatment for Children With ADHD and Overweight or Obesity

The pilot study will be a one group open-label treatment program and will be used to refine a parent-based behavioral treatment enhanced with executive-function training (PBT-EF) for children with comorbid overweight or obesity and Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

Study Overview

Status

Status

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Withdrawn

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

The currently recommended treatment for children with overweight or obesity (OW/OB), family-based behavioral treatment (FBT), results in sustained weight loss for only 1/3 of children. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common neurobehavioral disorders in children and is characterized by difficulties in Executive Function (EF). Substantial research suggests higher rates of OW/OB in children with ADHD; thus, children with OW/OB and ADHD are likely to have greater difficulties with EF and achieving success in FBT. The proposed study aims to develop a parent-based behavioral treatment enhanced with EF training (PBT-EF) to improve treatment outcomes for children with comorbid OW/OB and ADHD. The treatment will be administered to parents in 18 group sessions over 5 months. Parents and children will be assessed at baseline, post-treatment, and 3-month follow-up. Assessments will include body mass index (BMI), assessments of executive function, and behavioral questionnaires. This study could provide a novel model to treat OW/OB in children with ADHD, and could inform clinical decision making regarding obesity treatment.

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

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.

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • San Diego, California, United States, 92037
        • UCSD Center for Healthy Eating and Activity Research (CHEAR)

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

8 years to 12 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Child with overweight or obesity (85-99.9% BMI for age),
  • Child age 8-12,
  • Child with a diagnosis of ADHD,
  • A parent willing to participate who can read and understand English at a minimum of a fifth-grade level, able to attend treatment sessions remotely via Zoom on video.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Current enrollment in an organized weight control program (parent and child)
  • Medication specifically prescribed for weight loss (child)
  • Medical or psychiatric condition that may interfere with treatment participation or that may require physician monitoring of diet and/or exercise (e.g., acute suicidality; psychosis; substance use disorder) (parent and child)
  • Change in psychotropic medication or other medication that may impact weight or ADHD symptoms during the previous 3 months (child)

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: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Single Group 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: Executive Function-Enhanced Parent-Based Behavioral Treatment (PBT-EF)
PBT-EF will integrate executive function training with family-based behavioral treatment (FBT) for obesity, the gold-standard behavioral treatment for childhood obesity. PBT-EF will include self-monitoring, calorie reduction, and dietary and physical activity recommendations in addition to planning, organization, and problem-solving skills.
Behavioral: PBT-EF
PBT-EF will be delivered to parents only. Parents will be taught general behavioral weight loss skills to apply to their child and themselves including decreasing caloric intake and increasing physical activity, self-monitoring, and goal setting. Additionally, parents will learn compensatory strategies surrounding organization, habit learning, planning, and problem-solving to generalize FBT skills to real-world behaviors (e.g., self-monitoring of food intake). Each session will include interactive exercises to help train an aspect of EF. Skills taught will be presented to be practiced with real-world applications.

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
Feasibility as measured by number of treatment sessions attended
Time Frame: Over the course of 5 months of treatment
Attendance at Treatment Sessions
Over the course of 5 months of treatment
Acceptability
Time Frame: At 5 months
Ratings of usefulness of treatment
At 5 months

Other Outcome Measures

Other Outcome Measures

For clinical trials, a planned measurement described in the protocol that is used to determine the effect of an intervention/treatment on participants. For observational studies, a measurement or observation that is used to describe patterns of diseases or traits, or associations with exposures, risk factors, or treatment. Types of outcome measures include primary outcome measure and secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Child body mass index (BMI)
Time Frame: Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months
As measured by height and weight (kg/m^2)
Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months
Child executive function
Time Frame: Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months
Change in executive function measured by Behavior Rating in Executive Functioning - 2 (BRIEF-2). The Global Executive Composite score reflects a standardized t-score with higher scores reflecting greater difficulties in executive function.
Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months
Parent executive function
Time Frame: Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months
Change in executive function measured by Behavior Rating in Executive Functioning - Adult (BRIEF-A). The Global Executive Composite score reflects a standardized t-score with higher scores reflecting greater difficulties in executive function.
Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months
Child behavioral symptoms - Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL)
Time Frame: Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months
Change in child behavioral symptoms rated by parents as measured by CBCL. The CBCL is a widely used parent-report questionnaire designed to assess behavioral problems and social competencies of children ages 4-18. It yields standardized T scores and age adjusted scores on internalizing, externalizing, and total behavior difficulties. Higher scores reflect greater behavioral difficulties.
Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months
Child behavioral symptoms - Vanderbilt ADHD [Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder] Parent Rating Scale
Time Frame: Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months
Change in child behavioral symptoms rated by parents as measured by Vanderbilt ADHD Parent Rating Scale. This scale is a parent-report questionnaire. The parent rates the frequency of 47 behaviors that may indicate behavioral issues. There are also 8 performance questions. Change in total symptoms of the 18 ADHD criteria will be reported. Higher scores reflect greater ADHD symptomatology.
Change from baseline at an average of 5 months and 8 months

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 California, San Diego

Collaborators

Collaborators

An organization other than the sponsor that provides support for a clinical study. This support may include activities related to funding, design, implementation, data analysis, or reporting.
Rady Children's Hospital, San Diego

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: Dawn M Eichen, PhD, University of California, San Diego

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.
July 26, 2022

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.
May 1, 2025

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.
May 1, 2025

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 7, 2021

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 7, 2021

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 21, 2021

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.
March 4, 2026

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.
March 2, 2026

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.
March 1, 2025

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.
  • 210123

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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