Development of DBT/Parent Training Group Intervention

This treatment development study is aimed at developing and pilot testing a 24-week remotely delivered group intervention that integrates three evidence-based treatments: 1) Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) Skills - targeting adult emotion dysregulation, 2) Parent Management Training (PMT) - targeting parenting behaviors linked to child behavioral dysregulation, and 3) Emotion Coaching (EC) - targeting parental emotion socialization practices linked to child emotion dysregulation.

The aims of the study are to:

1. Evaluate the feasibility of the intervention, specifically with respect to its acceptability and its implementation with 4 families in which a parent has elevated levels of emotion dysregulation and their child has elevated levels of emotion or behavioral dysregulation.
2. Examine change patterns in parent and child mental health and parenting quality using a Single Case Experimental Design (SCED) to evaluate both pre-post and weekly changes in these outcomes.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Parenting; Emotional Distress
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills + Parent Training

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 3
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Oregon
    • Eugene, Oregon, United States, 97403
      • University of Oregon

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• parent must be 18+ years of age
• parent must have at least partial custody of a 3-6 year old child
• neither parent nor child may have any known developmental disability
• parent must be proficient in English
• parent must endorse elevated emotion dysregulation and report their child meets a cutoff for emotional and/or behavioral difficulties.
• parent must have access to the internet and Zoom software

Exclusion Criteria:

• parent with developmental disability
• psychotic disorder
• actively suicidal with an active plan

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Intervention / Treatment

Experimental: DBT Skills + Parent Training

Behavioral: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills + Parent Training; The DBT/Parent training group intervention is a novel integration of three evidence-based treatments (i.e. DBT Skills, Parent Management Training (PMT), and Emotion Coaching (EC)). The DBT Skills portion of each session follows the DBT Skills Training Manual Second Edition and DBT Skills Training Handouts and Worksheets Second Edition. DBT Skills portions cover the four modules of traditional DBT Skills: mindfulness, distress tolerance, emotion regulation and interpersonal effectiveness. PMT portions of the intervention cover: praise, positive interactions and parental attention, reward systems, effective commands, use of consequences, and problem solving. EC portions of the intervention cover: psychoeducation on children's emotional development, teaching children to identify and label emotions, validation of children's emotions, handling children's negative emotions, fostering children's positive emotions and parental modeling of emotion regulation and expression.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in parental emotion dysregulation	Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS). A 36-item self report measure used to assess adult emotion dysregulation. Items are rated on a scale of 1 to 5, with higher scores indicating higher levels of dysregulation. The measure is comprised of six subscales: lack of emotional awareness, lack of emotional clarity, limited emotion regulation strategies, difficulties with impulse control, difficulties engaging in goal-directed behavior, and nonacceptance of emotional responses.	Baseline up to 24 weeks
Change in child behavior	Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). A 25-item parent-report measure in which parents rate (on a Likert scale of 0-2) how characteristic of their child are emotional and behavioral strengths and difficulties. The measure yields a total difficulties score as well as subscales for emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems and prosocial behavior. Internalizing and Externalizing sub scales can also be generated. Higher scores indicate greater difficulties.	Baseline up to 24 weeks
Change in parenting Quality	Parenting Scale (PS). A 30-item self-report questionnaire, in which parents are asked to describe (on a Likert scale of 1-7) how they respond to a variety of child misbehaviors. The measure yields three subscales: laxness, over-reactivity and hostile parenting. Higher scores indicate more dysfunctional parenting behaviors.	Baseline up to 24 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Oregon

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 24, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): February 24, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): February 24, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: January 7, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: February 1, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): February 5, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): September 16, 2021
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: September 14, 2021
• Last Verified: September 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 11192019.028

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