Nonviolent Communication for Parents

August 30, 2026 updated by: Dr Grace SUN Yuying, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

Effectiveness of Group-based Nonviolent Communication Interventions for Improving Mental Well-being in Parents: a Randomised Controlled Trial

This randomised controlled trial (RCT) aims to evaluate the effectiveness of face-to-face Nonviolent Communication (NVC) intervention in improving parents' mental well-being and NVC skills, reducing parenting stress, depression and anxiety symptoms, and child emotional and behavioural problems.

A total of 172 parents with primary-school-age children will be recruited and randomly assigned to an intervention group or a waitlist control group. The intervention group will receive six weekly 1.5-hour face-to-face NVC training sessions delivered by trained social workers.

Five to ten social workers will be trained by professional NVC trainers through a train-the-trainer workshop, including three sessions. Each social worker will be assessed before (TTT1), after (TTT2) the workshops and 10 months (TTT3).

Assessments for participants will be conducted at baseline (T1), immediately post-intervention (T2), and at three-month follow-up (T3). After completing the assessments, the waitlist control group will receive the same sessions. Qualitative interviews will be conducted to explore participants' experiences and perceptions of NVC.

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.

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.
174

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: Grace Yuying Sun, PhD
  • Phone Number: 852 39702916
  • Email: gsun@hkmu.edu.hk

Study Locations

  • Hong Kong
      • Hong Kong, Hong Kong
        • The Jockey Club Institute of Healthcare of Hong Kong Metropolitan University

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

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 1) parents aged 24-59 years with children of primary school age;
  • 2) with mild to severe depressive symptoms (score >5 on the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9) (Kroenke et al., 2001) and/or mild to severe anxiety symptoms (score >5 on the General Anxiety Disorder (GAD)-7) (Spitzer et al., 2006); and
  • 3) Hong Kong residents who can understand Cantonese.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • 1) under psychiatric treatment, psychotherapy groups and are classified as unstable cases based on the judgment of the recruiting social workers;
  • 2) participating in other related parenting programmes.

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: Prevention
  • 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: Receiving NVC Interventions
Participants in the intervention group will receive six weekly 1.5-hour face-to-face NVC training sessions delivered by trained social workers.
Behavioral: Nonviolent Communication Intervention
The intervention will be conducted by social workers who will be trained by professional NVC trainers through a train-the-trainer workshop, including six sessions. The interventions include an introduction to four fundamental principles of NVC, distinguishing observations from evaluations, identifying and expressing feelings, taking responsibility for feelings and needs, and using positive action language to make requests. Each session will feature a review of the previous session, a warm-up game and an exercise to consolidate the learning of the concepts. The intervention sessions will also include group discussions and debriefing sessions on parents' experiences of practising NVC.
No Intervention: Wailist Control Group
The waitlist control group will not receive any training before all the assessments have been done by both groups. The wailist control group will receive NVC training sessions after all assessments. During the whole study period, these participants can access usual medical services, whether related or unrelated to mental health needs.

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
Well-being
Time Frame: T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
The Short Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale (SWEMWS) is a 7-item scale for assessing mental health in non-clinical populations. Using a 5-point Likert scale (1 = none of the time, 5 = all the time), the total score is calculated by summing all seven items. The Chinese version showed good validity and reliability in the investigators' previous study. The congeneric reliability was 0.85 and the test-retest reliability was 0.70.
T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
NVC skills
Time Frame: T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
The measure of NVC skills was developed based on a 16-item scale that represents the four principles of NVC skills. Each item is rated on a 5-point scale ranging from 0 = never to 5 = always. The average score is calculated, with higher scores indicating better NVC skills. Cronbach's alpha was 0.82 in the investigators' pilot study.
T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2

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
Depressive symptoms
Time Frame: T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
The Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ)-9 is a 9-item instrument that is commonly used to measure depressive symptoms in the past two weeks. Each item is rated on a 4-point scale ranging from 0 = not at all to 3 = nearly every day. The Chinese version showed good validity and reliability (Cronbach's alphas: 0.82-0.92).
T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
Anxiety
Time Frame: T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
The Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)-7 scale is a 7-item instrument to assess generalised anxiety disorder in the past two weeks. The response options for the seven symptoms are the same as PHQ-9. The Chinese version showed good validity and reliability (Cronbach's alphas: 0.89-0.95).
T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
Parenting stress
Time Frame: T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
The Parental Stress Scale (PSS) is an 18-item questionnaire that assesses feelings about parents' parenting role. A 16-item version of the PSS was developed by Leung et al. for Hong Kong parents. Responses are given on a 5-point scale. The Chinese version showed good internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha: 0.86).
T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
Child emotional and behavioural problems
Time Frame: T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a 25-item emotional and behavioural screening questionnaire for children and young people. The version for the parents of 4-17-year-olds will be used. Each item is rated on a 3-point scale ('not true', 'somewhat true', 'certainly true'). The Chinese parent version showed good validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha: 0.81).
T1: Baseline; T2: Immediate post-intervention; T3: 3 months post-T2

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
Train-the-trainer outcome
Time Frame: T1: Baseline, before the workshop; T2: Immediate after the workshop; T3: 10 months after baseline.
Social workers' understanding of NVC will be assessed at TTT1-TTT3. Overall satisfaction with the workshops will be assessed during TTT2. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (0 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree).
T1: Baseline, before the workshop; T2: Immediate after the workshop; T3: 10 months after baseline.

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.
Hong Kong Metropolitan University

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: Grace Yuying Sun, Hong Kong Metropolitan University

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.
May 1, 2025

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 31, 2026

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.
June 30, 2026

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).
April 17, 2025

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 17, 2025

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 24, 2025

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.
September 1, 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.
August 30, 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.
August 1, 2026

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.
  • HE-RGC2024/NHS02

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

IPD Plan Description

We are not sharing individual participant data (IPD) due to privacy concerns and limitations in participant consent. Although the data is de-identified, there remains a risk of re-identification, and participants were not explicitly consented for public data sharing. Aggregate results will be made available through publications and presentations to ensure transparency.

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.

Cookie Settings

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. For more details carefully read our Privacy and Cookies Policy. ...>>>You can change your preferences or withdraw your consent at any time by deleting the cookies from your website or computer as described in the policy. Please accept it and choose your preferences by ticking the corresponding boxes in the "Manage Settings" section below. Please carefully read our Terms of Service before you proceed with using any part of this website.
«Manage Settings