Early Intervention Foster Care: A Prevention Trial (EIFC)

June 18, 2008 updated by: Oregon Social Learning Center
The Early Intervention Foster Care [EIFC] project is an efficacy trial of the Oregon Social Learning Center Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care Program, a preventive intervention that targets 3 commonly co-occurring variables among young foster children: (1) behavioral problems, (2) physiological dysregulation within the neuroendocrine system (i.e., HPA axis activity), and (3) developmental delays.

Study Overview

Status

Unknown

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The Early Intervention Foster Care project is an ongoing randomized efficacy trial to evaluate the Early Intervention Foster Care Program (EIFC). EIFC, also known at Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care-Preschool (MTFC-P), is a preventive intervention that is specifically designed to address the needs of preschool-aged foster children and their caregivers. Over the first 5 years of the project data was collected from 177 preschool-aged children, 117 of whom were in the Oregon foster care system and 60 of whom were living with their biological families for a community comparison sample. Foster children in the study were randomly assigned to the EIFC experimental intervention condition or a regular foster care condition (RFC). The following hypotheses are under investigation: (1) Relative to children in the RFC condition, children in the EIFC condition will show greater improvements in temporally proximal outcomes (e.g., behavioral/emotional, salivary cortisol, and developmental) and in temporally distal outcomes (e.g., behavioral functioning in the school setting; long-term placement stability, including reunification or adoption; and mental health status, including psychiatric diagnoses). (2) Proximal outcomes over the course of the intervention will predict distal outcomes during the early elementary school years. (3) Proximal outcomes will be mediated by caregivers' childrearing practices-specifically, engagement with and monitoring of the child in the home, the quality and consistency of parental discipline, and the use of positive reinforcement strategies. (4) The same childrearing practices will mediate the psychosocial adjustment of the child in the aftercare setting (i.e., return to family of origin, placement in adoptive home, or continued placement in long-term foster home). (5) The EIFC intervention will cost-effectively reduce the need for mental health and social services for children, decreasing the length of time that children spend in foster care and reducing the need for special education services for children.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

177

Phase

  • 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 Locations

  • United States
    • Oregon
      • Eugene, Oregon, United States, 97401
        • Oregon Social Learning Center

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 years to 6 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • child age 3 to 6 years currently in foster care
  • child has entered new foster placement
  • child currently living in Lane County, Oregon

Exclusion Criteria:

  • child is medically or developmentally unable to complete assessment tasks

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: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: 1
EIFC/MTFC-P
Behavioral: Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC)
The EIFC/MTFC-P intervention is delivered through a treatment team approach. Foster parents receive preservice training and ongoing consultation from program staff. Children receive individual therapy and attend a therapeutic playgroup. The intervention emphasizes the use of concrete encouragement for prosocial behavior; consistent, nonabusive limit-setting to address disruptive behavior; and close supervision of the child. The EIFC intervention employs a developmental framework in which the challenges of foster preschoolers are viewed from the perspective of delayed maturation and is oriented toward creating optimal environmental conditions to facilitate developmental progress. These conditions include a responsive and consistent caregiver and a predictable daily routine.
Other Names:
  • Multidemensional Treatment Foster Care-Preschool (MTFC-P)
No Intervention: 2
Services as usual
Behavioral: Early Intervention Foster Care (EIFC)
The EIFC/MTFC-P intervention is delivered through a treatment team approach. Foster parents receive preservice training and ongoing consultation from program staff. Children receive individual therapy and attend a therapeutic playgroup. The intervention emphasizes the use of concrete encouragement for prosocial behavior; consistent, nonabusive limit-setting to address disruptive behavior; and close supervision of the child. The EIFC intervention employs a developmental framework in which the challenges of foster preschoolers are viewed from the perspective of delayed maturation and is oriented toward creating optimal environmental conditions to facilitate developmental progress. These conditions include a responsive and consistent caregiver and a predictable daily routine.
Other Names:
  • Multidemensional Treatment Foster Care-Preschool (MTFC-P)
No Intervention: Community Comparison
Non-maltreated community pre-schoolers from low-income biological families.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
placement stability
Time Frame: 6 months to 48 months post-intervention
6 months to 48 months post-intervention

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Time Frame
attachment and behavioral regulation
Time Frame: baseline through 48 months post-intervention
baseline through 48 months post-intervention
neuroendocrine and executive functioning
Time Frame: baseline through 48 months post-intervention
baseline through 48 months post-intervention

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Oregon Social Learning Center

Collaborators

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Philip A Fisher, PhD, Oregon Social Learning Center

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

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, 1999

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

March 1, 2010

Study Completion (Anticipated)

March 1, 2010

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

June 17, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 18, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

June 19, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 19, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 18, 2008

Last Verified

June 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • R01MH059780 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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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