Mental Health Services for Foster and Adopted Children

December 19, 2016 updated by: Mary Dozier, University of Delaware

Specialized Mental Health Services for Foster Infants

This study will determine the effectiveness of a relationship-based intervention in improving the interaction between caregivers and young children placed in their care.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Infants and toddlers who are placed into foster or adoptive care often exhibit a number of behavioral, emotional, and physiological problems. In the absence of specialized services, problems in the relationship between caregiver and child may develop; problems in the child's functioning often persist and are exacerbated. This study will attempt to alleviate the attachment and regulatory difficulties that affect many young children placed into care.

Children are randomly assigned to either an experimental group or to a treatment control group for 3 years. The experimental group focuses on relational issues; the control group focuses on cognitive development. Caregivers receiving the relational intervention are trained to provide nurturing care, and to help children learn to develop adequate regulatory skills. Caregivers in the treatment control group receive training designed to enhance children's cognitive development. Caregivers in both groups will receive 10 home visits. Observations of children and parents are used to assess participants.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

220

Phase

  • 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
    • Delaware
      • Newark, Delaware, United States, 19716
        • University of Delaware

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

Ages Eligible for Study

3 months to 1 year (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Toddler placed into foster care
  • Resident of Delaware and surrounding counties in Pennsylvania and Maryland

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Significant medical problems

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: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up targets nurturance, synchrony, and non-frightening behavior, as well as providing caregivers with help calming toddlers.
Behavioral: Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up
Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up is a 10 session in-home intervention that targets synchrony, nurturance, and calming parental behavior.
Active Comparator: Developmental Education for Families
Developmental Education for Families targets providing cognitive stimulation to their children.
Behavioral: Developmental Education for Families
Developmental Education for Families is a 10-session in home intervention that targets children's cognitive development.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Attachment
Time Frame: Annually
The Preschool Strange Situation is conducted annually.
Annually

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Executive Functioning
Time Frame: Annually
Disruptive Behaviors-Diagnostic Observation Schedule (DB-DOS) is used to assess problem behaviors. The DB-DOS consists of a series of challenging tasks that ask the child to inhibit prepotent behaviors and regulate emotions.
Annually
Diurnal production of cortisol
Time Frame: Annually
Three days of saliva sampling at wake-up and bedtime.
Annually

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Delaware

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

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

December 1, 2002

Primary Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2016

Study Completion (Actual)

December 1, 2016

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 10, 2003

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 10, 2003

First Posted (Estimate)

March 11, 2003

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

December 20, 2016

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 19, 2016

Last Verified

December 1, 2016

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01MH052135 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • DSIR 84-CTCT

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

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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