Evaluating an Online Parenting Intervention in a Community-Based Sample of Parents

May 10, 2023 updated by: University of Ottawa

Can We Still Make the Connection? Evaluating an Online Parenting Intervention in a Community-Based Sample of Parents of Infants and Young Children

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effectiveness of the online modality of the Make the Connection (MTC) program in a community-based sample of parents not at-risk for parenting difficulties. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does the MTC online program result in improvements in parent-child bond, parent self-efficacy, parental stress, and parental depression among parents who are not at-risk for parent-child relationship difficulties?
  • What are some of the barriers, facilitators, perceived benefits and risks to participating in the MTC online program from the perspective of parents?

Participants will be asked to complete a pre-intervention questionnaire, will be invited to complete the 8-week MTC online program consisting of a weekly 15-minute module, and will lastly be asked to complete a post-intervention questionnaire.

Study Overview

Status

Withdrawn

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

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 Contact

Study Locations

  • Canada
    • Ontario
      • Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, K1N 6N5
        • University of Ottawa
        • Contact:

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

18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • parents with children between the ages of 0-3 years old
  • parents are primarily responsible for the children

Exclusion Criteria:

  • parents are at-risk for parent-child relationship difficulties (i.e., endorse two of the following criteria: being a first-time caregiver, socially isolated, low education, caregiving alone, lack of confidence or self-efficacy, at risk for poor infant sensitivity, or at-risk for depression)

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Intervention group
Behavioral: Make the Connection® Online Program

Make the Connection® (MTC) is an evidence-based parenting program offered by Strong Minds Strong Kids, Psychology Canada. Recently, the MTC program has been adapted to an online platform to help increase scalability and accessibility across Canada. The online modality is self-administered by parents and consist of 8 weekly, 15-minute modules.

MTC is an attachment-focused, evidence-informed, parent training program that is designed to support the development of positive parent-child relationships by teaching parents to understand their infant's cues. The overarching goal of the program is to enhance parental attitudes and cognitions towards their infants, which have been shown to be associated with sensitive parenting behaviour, and in turn, secure child attachment. Ultimately, by improving parenting skills and attitudes, the program seeks to support secure infant attachment.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Parent-child bond will be measured using the Maternal Postnatal Attachment Scale (MPAS)
Time Frame: Change from pre-intervention scores at baseline and post-intervention scores at week 8
The MPAS is a 19-item questionnaire that assesses parents' relational attitudes towards their infant. There are three main subscales derived from the measure: Quality of Attachment, Pleasure in Interaction, and Absence of Hostility. The MPAS has shown strong psychometric properties for use in community samples and can be used with mothers and fathers.
Change from pre-intervention scores at baseline and post-intervention scores at week 8

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Parent self-efficacy will be measured using the Parent Sense of Competence Questionnaire (PSOC)
Time Frame: Change from pre-intervention scores at baseline and post-intervention scores at week 8
The PSOC has 14-items and measures a parent's experiences in their role as a parent. There are three substances including Interest, Efficacy, and Satisfaction. The questionnaire has been widely used to assess parenting attitudes and has adequate psychometric properties.
Change from pre-intervention scores at baseline and post-intervention scores at week 8
Parental stress will be measured using the Parenting Stress Scale (PSS)
Time Frame: Change from pre-intervention scores at baseline and post-intervention scores at week 8
Change from pre-intervention scores at baseline and post-intervention scores at week 8
Parental depression will be measured using the Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D)
Time Frame: Change from pre-intervention scores at baseline and post-intervention scores at week 8
Change from pre-intervention scores at baseline and post-intervention scores at week 8

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Ottawa

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 (Anticipated)

June 1, 2023

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

June 1, 2024

Study Completion (Anticipated)

September 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 21, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 3, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

March 15, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 12, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 10, 2023

Last Verified

May 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Other Study ID Numbers

  • H-02-23-8888-2

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

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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