Implementing Virtual Parent Support Groups for Eating Disorders Across Canada (vPLPSG)

Understanding and Mitigating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children, Youth, and Families Living With an Eating Disorder: A National Implementation Study of a Virtual Parent-Led Peer Support Intervention

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada has experienced a surge in new pediatric eating disorder cases and hospitalizations and long treatment waitlists, with parents experiencing anxiety due to a lack of support. As it has not been rigorously studied, there is an urgent need to understand and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, youth, and families living with eating disorders across Canada. The investigator's proposed research has two goals. First, the investigators plan to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic faced by this population throughout the country, as well as describe stakeholder views on virtual parent-led peer support groups. Given the increased burden faced by parents of children with eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, the second goal is to study whether the national implementation of virtual parent-led peer support groups helps to mitigate the impact of the pandemic among affected parents. The investigators will use qualitative semi-structured interviews to gather an understanding of the impact of the pandemic on relevant stakeholders across the country. At the same time, the investigators will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the implementation of virtual parent-led peer support groups in several regions of Canada by examining parent and parent peer support provider experiences.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Eating Disorders
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Support Group for Caregivers

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 120
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Canada
  • Alberta
    • Calgary, Alberta, Canada
      • University of Calgary
  • Nova Scotia
    • Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
      • IWK Health Centre
  • Ontario
    • Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
      • McMaster University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 12 years to 100 years (Child, Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Have the capacity to write, speak and understand English
• Have access to a computer and internet
• Among parents enrolled in the virtual parent-led peer support groups, they must have a child or adolescent (<18 years of age) diagnosed with an eating disorder
• Among youth and parents of youth with an eating disorder in the qualitative interviews component of the study, they/their child must either be on a waiting list for eating disorder treatment, actively in treatment, or post-treatment; the youth must be <18 years of age and the parent must have a child <18 years of age
• Among clinician/administrators in the qualitative interviews component of the study, they must work within pediatric eating disorder programs or lifespan eating disorder programs.

Exclusion Criteria:

• No lived or professional experience in the field of eating disorders
• Don't have the capacity to write, speak and understand English
• Don't have access to the internet/computer

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Health Services Research
• 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: Stakeholder Perspectives and Virtual Parent-Led Peer Support Group; Qualitative interviews regarding the impact of COVID-19 will be conducted with youth who have an eating disorder (ED), parents of youth who have an ED, ED clinicians and ED program administrators, as well as get their perspectives on parent-led peer support groups. Three parent-led peer support groups will be started, including psychoeducation in a virtual group setting for parents who have a child or adolescent with an eating disorder.

Behavioral: Support Group for Caregivers; Engage parents in the community via this support group, so they can be supported by other parents who "know the system", can advise them on how to proceed, and empower them to help their children. Parents will learn psychoeducation about eating disorders and how to support their children.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Parent, youth, clinician, and administrator perspectives on and experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic and children, youth, and families with eating disorders	Perspectives and experiences qualitatively measured by semi-structured individual interviews with participants with lived experience or expertise in pediatric eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic.	Baseline to 6 months later
Parent, youth, clinician, and administrator perspectives on virtual parent-led peer support groups to help mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on children, youth, and families with eating disorders across Canada	Perspectives qualitatively measured by semi-structured individual interviews with participants with lived experience or expertise in pediatric eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic.	Baseline to 6 months later
Parent, youth, clinician, and administrator perspectives on factors important for implementing and sustaining virtual parent-led peer support groups	Perspectives qualitatively measured by semi-structured individual interviews with participants with lived experience or expertise in pediatric eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic.	Baseline to 6 months later

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in number of parents who remain in the support group (Retention Rate)	The investigators will compare the number of parents who consent to participate in the support group and study to the number of parents who have completed the support group and study, 3 months later.	Baseline and 3 months later
Number of support groups each parent attends (Attendance Rate)	The investigators will take note of how many support groups (out of 6) each parent attends in a 3 month period.	3 months after baseline
Change in self-reported parental burden	Parental burden will be assessed using the Eating Disorders Symptom Impact Scale (EDSIS) - a 24 item measure examining the impact of symptoms on parents' lives. Minimum score is 0, maximum score is 96. A higher score indicates that the child's eating disorder symptoms are having a greater impact on their parent (more burdensome).	Baseline and 3 months later
Change in self-reported needs as a parent of a child with an eating disorder	Parental needs will be assessed using the Carers Needs Assessment Measure (CaNAM), a 47-item questionnaire examining information received about eating disorders, support received from other people and organizations, support for self, and areas where help is needed. The minimum score is 0, the maximum score is 64. A higher score indicates that the carer has received sufficient information and support for themselves and their child.	Baseline and 3 months later
Change in self-reported parental self efficacy and collaboration	Parental self-efficacy and collaboration will be assessed using the Patient and Carer Collaboration Scale -C (PACCS), a 33-item questionnaire examining constructs such as hope, self-care and compassion, externalization of the eating disorder, and boundaries. Each question is evaluated on a scale of 0 to 100, where higher values indicate positive collaboration with their child and higher parental self efficacy.	Baseline and 3 months later
Parent Peer Support Providers' Change in Readiness	The Brief Individual Readiness to Change Scale will indicate how ready parent peer support providers feel they are to change. Higher scores indicate greater readiness to use research-based direct service techniques. Minimum score is 0, maximum score is 20.	Baseline and 6 months later
Parent Peer Support Providers' Change in Attitudes about Evidence Based Practice	Their attitudes about evidence-based practice will be assessed using the Evidence Based Practice Attitudes Scale (EBPAS). The subscales include requirements, appeal, openness and divergence. The score for each subscale is created by computing a mean score for the items that load on a given subscale. Minimum score for each subscale is 0, maximum score for each subscale is 4.	Baseline and 6 months later
Parent Peer Support Providers' Change in Confidence related to the Intervention	Their confidence related to the intervention will be assessed by administering an adapted version of the Perceived Attributes of the Principles of Effectiveness Scale (MPAS). Higher scores are indicative of more favorable perception for virtual parent led peer support group content. The minimum score is 18, the maximum score is 90.	Baseline and 6 months later
Parent Peer Support Providers' Self-Reported Fidelity to Peer Support	Parent peer support providers leading the virtual parent-led peer support groups will complete a self-reported measure related to rating their fidelity to peer support, outlining their adherence to peer support principles. The minimum score is 14, the maximum score is 70.	Baseline and 6 months later

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Parent participant experiences	Virtual parent-led peer support group experiences of parents participants, qualitatively measured by semi-structured individual interviews with parents after 3 months in virtual parent-led peer support groups.	After 3 months in groups
Parent Peer Support Provider experiences	Virtual parent-led peer support group experiences of parent peer support providers, qualitatively measured by semi-structured focus group with virtual parent-led peer support groups and a focus group with parent peer support providers after 6 months of leading groups.	After 6 months leading groups

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: McMaster University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Jennifer Couturier, MD MSc, McMaster University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 1, 2022
• Primary Completion (Actual): March 31, 2024
• Study Completion (Actual): March 31, 2024

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 29, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 26, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): December 9, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 4, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 28, 2026
• Last Verified: April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: COVID-19; eating disorder; parent support group
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Signs and Symptoms, Digestive; Respiratory Tract Infections; Infections; RNA Virus Infections; Virus Diseases; Respiratory Tract Diseases; Lung Diseases; Pneumonia, Viral; Pneumonia; Coronavirus Infections; Coronaviridae Infections; Nidovirales Infections; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms; Signs and Symptoms; COVID-19; Feeding and Eating Disorders; Health Care Facilities Workforce and Services; Organizations; Health Care Economics and Organizations; Health Personnel; Caregivers; Self-Help Groups
• Other Study ID Numbers: 14196

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