An eHealth Psychosocial Intervention for Caregivers of Children With Cancer

The psychosocial needs of children with cancer and their families are well-documented in the literature, including the increased risk of parental posttraumatic stress, parental anxiety, and decreased family functioning. There is a critical need to provide evidence-based psychosocial care to parents of children with cancer, although many challenges exist with regard to in-person intervention delivery. eHealth interventions represent an exciting potential opportunity to address many of the barriers to in-person intervention delivery in this population, but are not yet widely utilized in pediatric psychosocial cancer care. eSCCIP is an innovative eHealth intervention for parents of children with cancer, delivered through a combination of self-guided interactive online content and telehealth follow-up with a therapist. eSCCIP aims to decrease symptoms of anxiety, distress, and posttraumatic stress while improving family functioning by delivering evidence-based therapeutic content through a flexible, easily accessible intervention tool. The four self-guided online modules feature a mix of didactic video content, novel multifamily video discussion groups featuring parents of children with cancer, and hands-on interactive activities. Preliminary Think Aloud testing has been completed and led to several rounds of design and functionality improvements. The objective of the proposed study is to establish feasibility and acceptability of eSCCIP in a diverse group of parents of children with cancer. A secondary, exploratory goal is to evaluate preliminary intervention effectiveness for key psychosocial outcomes. Specific Aim 1 is to identify strategies for increasing participant engagement and retention by conducting focus groups with a diverse sample of parents of children with cancer prior to pilot testing. Specific Aim 2 is to demonstrate the feasibility of eSCCIP through pilot testing with a diverse sample of parents of children with cancer. Specific Aim 3 is to evaluate preliminary effectiveness of eSCCIP through pilot testing with parents of children with cancer. The proposed study is an important first step in meeting a critical need for families of children with cancer and collecting data to power a randomized clinical trial to establish clinical efficacy.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Pediatric Cancer
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: eSCCIP

Detailed Description

The psychosocial needs of children with cancer and their families are well-documented in the literature, including the increased risk of parental posttraumatic stress, parental anxiety, and decreased family functioning. There is a critical need to provide evidence-based psychosocial care to parents of children with cancer, although many challenges exist with regard to in-person intervention delivery. For example, it can be difficult for parents to schedule additional in-person appointments during cancer treatment, and many pediatric cancer centers lack adequately trained psychosocial staff. eHealth interventions represent an exciting potential opportunity to address many of the barriers to in-person intervention delivery in this population, but are not yet widely utilized in pediatric psychosocial cancer care. eSCCIP is an innovative eHealth intervention for parents of children with cancer, delivered through a combination of self-guided interactive online content and telehealth follow-up with a therapist. eSCCIP aims to decrease symptoms of anxiety, distress, and posttraumatic stress while improving family functioning by delivering evidence-based therapeutic content through a flexible, easily accessible intervention tool. The intervention is grounded in principles of cognitive-behavioral and family systems therapy and is adapted from two efficacious in-person interventions for caregivers of children with cancer, the Surviving Cancer Competently Intervention Program (SCCIP) and the Surviving Cancer Competently Intervention Program - Newly Diagnosed (SCCIP-ND). eSSCIP has been rigorously developed over two years through a stakeholder-engaged development process involving close collaboration with parents of children with cancer, content experts in pediatric oncology and eHealth, and web design and development experts. The four self-guided online modules feature a mix of didactic video content, novel multifamily video discussion groups featuring parents of children with cancer, and hands-on interactive activities. Preliminary Think Aloud testing has been completed and led to several rounds of design and functionality improvements. The objective of the proposed study is to establish feasibility and acceptability of eSCCIP in a diverse group of parents of children with cancer. A secondary, exploratory goal is to evaluate preliminary intervention effectiveness for key psychosocial outcomes. Specific Aim 1 is to identify strategies for increasing participant engagement and retention by conducting focus groups with a diverse sample of parents of children with cancer prior to pilot testing. Specific Aim 2 is to demonstrate the feasibility of eSCCIP through pilot testing with a diverse sample of parents of children with cancer. Specific Aim 3 is to evaluate preliminary effectiveness of eSCCIP through pilot testing with parents of children with cancer. The proposed study is an important first step in meeting a critical need for families of children with cancer and collecting data to power a randomized clinical trial to establish clinical efficacy.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 44
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Delaware
    • Wilmington, Delaware, United States, 19803
      • Nemours Children's Health

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion criteria:

• Participants must be the parent or primary caregiver of a child (ages 0 - 18 years old) diagnosed with cancer.
• Participants must be able to speak and read English.
• Participants must have access to the internet through a computer or mobile device (e.g., smartphone, tablet).

Exclusion Criteria:

- Potential participants are ineligible to participate if their child is not expected to live longer than six months from the time of potential recruitment

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
• 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: eSCCIP; The Electronic Surviving Cancer Competently Intervention Program (eSCCIP) is an innovative eHealth intervention that combines cognitive behavioral and family systems therapy to provide parents and caregivers of children with cancer (PCCC) with evidence-based coping skills and psychosocial support focused on the family unit. eSCCIP has three 30-minute, self-directed, online modules which feature a unique mix of original video content and interactive activities, supplemented by three telehealth follow-up sessions. eSCCIP aims to reduce acute distress and symptoms of post-traumatic stress while increasing positive coping self-appraisal and use of cognitive coping skills.

Behavioral: eSCCIP; The Electronic Surviving Cancer Competently Intervention Program (eSCCIP) is an innovative eHealth intervention that combines cognitive behavioral and family systems therapy to provide parents and caregivers of children with cancer (PCCC) with evidence-based coping skills and psychosocial support focused on the family unit. eSCCIP has three 30-minute, self-directed, online modules which feature a unique mix of original video content and interactive activities, supplemented by three telehealth follow-up sessions. eSCCIP aims to reduce acute distress and symptoms of post-traumatic stress while increasing positive coping self-appraisal and use of cognitive coping skills.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The eSCCIP Evaluation Questionnaire	The eSCCIP Evaluation Questionnaire is a questionnaire designed to evaluate intervention acceptability, feasibility, and usability. Data is descriptive and examined at the item-level. Each item is scored on a 0-4 Likert scale (Not at all true - Very true). Mean score with standard deviation are reported at the item-level.	Up to 6 weeks.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Distress Thermometer	Single-item indicator of psychosocial distress that is widely used in the oncology. Scores range from 1-10, with higher scores indicating more distress.	Up to 9 weeks
Generalized Anxiety Disorder - 7 (GAD-7)	Questionnaire used to assess state anxiety. Total scores range from 0-21, with higher scores indicating increased anxiety symptom severity.	Up to 9 weeks
SCORE-15	Questionnaire used to assess various domains of family functioning. The SCORE-15 generates a cumulative score and three subscales: Strengths and Adaptability (range = 5-25), Overwhelmed by Difficulties (range = 0-20), and Disrupted Communication (range = 0-20). The cumulative sum score ranges from 5-65. Higher average scores on the 0-4 and 1-5 scales indicate "worse" family functioning on subscales and the cumulative score.	Up to 9 weeks
PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5)	Questionnaire used to assess symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Items on the PCL-5 are summed, resulting in cumulative scores ranging from 0-80. Additionally, the PCL-5 provides four index scores that parallel the symptom clusters for a DSM-5 PTSD diagnosis. Initial research suggests an overall cutoff score of 31-33 is clinically significant. Higher scores are indicative of "worse" functioning." The score range for Subscale B (5 items) is 0-20. The score range for Subscale C (2 items) is 0-8. The score range for Subscale D (7 items) is 0-28. The score range for Subscale E (6 items) is 0-24. Scoring guidance suggests that cumulative scores are most meaningful in terms of a provisional diagnosis of PTSD. Higher subscale scores are indicative of "worse" functioning for the specific symptom cluster assessed on that subscale.	Up to 9 weeks.
The COVID-19 Exposure and Family Impact Scales (CEFIS)	Added to study battery after development in response to COVID-19 pandemic. Exploratory analysis. The CEFIS has two parts. Part 1 (Exposure) includes the Exposure scale which consists of 25 Yes/No items with a total score of 0 to 25. Higher scores denote more (negative) exposure. Part 2 (Impact) includes the Impact and Distress scales. The Impact scale consists of 10 items which use a 4-point Likert scale (values from 1 - 4) rating impact on participant's and family's life. The mean of the 10 items is the total Impact Scale Score. Higher scores denote a more negative impact. The Distress scale consists of 2 items with a 10-point distress scale (values from 1 - 10 for each item). The mean of these two items is the total Distress Scale Score. Higher scores denote more distress from COVID-19. The values below for Impact and Distress are the average participant subscale scores.	Up to 9 weeks.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Nemours Children's Clinic
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Kimberly Canter, PhD, Nemours Children's Health

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 1, 2020
• Primary Completion (Actual): January 31, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): January 31, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 11, 2022
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 11, 2022
• First Posted (Actual): April 19, 2022

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 19, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: October 14, 2022
• Last Verified: April 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Other Study ID Numbers: 5R03CA235002 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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