Emotions and Cognitions in Pediatric Chronic Physical Conditions (EmCog)

March 9, 2023 updated by: Université Catholique de Louvain

Emotions and Cognitions in Pediatric Chronic Physical Conditions - the Creation and Implementation of a Psychological Intervention

Children living with a chronic physical condition (CPC) are more likely than their peers without a disease to develop psychological difficulties or disorders (Hysing et al., 2007). To prevent or treat these difficulties and disorders, many psychotherapeutic approaches have been developed and tested. Most of them follow a categorical approach, based on a global diagnosis (e.g., Moreira et al., 2013). Few interventions are conducted from a processual perspective (Nef et al., 2012) studying underlying mechanisms of psychological functioning. Emotions and cognitions represent such underlying processes and play an important role in many psychopathological disorders. These processes can weaken but also protect a child from developing psychological difficulties, depending on whether they are effective or not (Gipson et al., 2006; Hysing et al., 2007; Lahaye et al., 2011). The present research project aims to identify a psychological intervention that builds on knowledge of emotional and cognitive processes, considered as protective and risk factors, to prevent/treat psychological difficulties. The project will be conducted in two parts:

  1. The first phase aims to better understand the action mechanisms of psychological interventions, focused on emotional and cognitive difficulties of children with CPCs. First, a systematic review will identify recent literature which reports the efficacy of psychological interventions which focused on emotional and cognitive processes. Second, interviews with experts (e.g., pediatricians, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, educators) in the field of CPCs and with parents/families of children with CPCs will be conducted. Individual and focus group meetings will be organized, with the aim of identifying the needs of children, based on clinical and practical knowledge and experience. A third phase will consist of the selection of an intervention that will be based on the results of the first two phases.
  2. In the second part (not yet registered), the selected intervention will be set up for a feasibility study (Bowen et al., 2009). For this, a small sample of children will participate in the intervention. Participants will be randomly allocated to an intervention group and a control group. The control group will participate in an alternative intervention (e.g., information on chronic diseases). The exact content of the intervention and its form (number of sessions, duration etc.) will be determined by the focus group. The intervention's efficacy will be evaluated (evaluation of emotional and cognitive processes as well as psychological and physiological health), using a mixed method approach. The results will be analyzed and discussed with the focus group. Limitations and perspectives will be formulated to allow for possible transfer of the intervention for future use or to other areas of psychology (Durlak & DuPre, 2008).

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The research project will be conducted as a non-medical intervention study, based on a mixed method and action-research principles (Bradbury & Lifvergren, 2016; Ivankova & Wingo, 2018; Malengreaux et al., 2020; Marshall et al., 2006). It will include a systematic literature review, quantitative (standardized questionnaires, self and hetero-reports) and qualitative measures (dialogues and discussions, semi-directed interviews, audio-recordings, observations, written reports). The effectiveness study of PART II of the research project will be carried out as randomized controlled trial but is not described in this registration.

PART 1

Phase I.a:

A systematic literature review is conducted by all investigators (researchers) in order to better understand action mechanisms of psychological interventions for children with chronic diseases (registered in PROSPERO: CRD42021233505).

Phase I.b:

  • Individual semi-structured qualitative interviews will be conducted by one or two investigators to explore the following questions: Which are emotional and cognitive difficulties and resources in children with CPC? Which are the emotional and cognitive needs of children with CPC? How are these/can these be addressed?
  • One or several focus groups will be created. They will be composed of different experts in the domain of CPCs (health care professionals, families, researchers, etc.). Per group, one or several meetings will be organized, depending on participants' availabilities. The meetings will be conducted by one or two investigators who will use semi-structured interview techniques to explore the following questions: Which are emotional and cognitive difficulties and resources in children with CPC? Which are the emotional and cognitive needs of children with CPC? How are these/can these be addressed?

PART II will consist of a feasibility and an effectiveness study of the intervention. For both studies, the selected intervention will be implemented, based on scientific, rigorous methods, and be evaluated with different quantitative and qualitative measures. PART II will rely on PART I. Thus, it will be described in another registration after completion of PART I.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Anticipated)

10

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 Contact Backup

Study Locations

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

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion criteria:

The participant

  • is a health care professional in the domain of pediatric chronic diseases or parents/family members/tutors of a child with CPC, aged 8-12 years OR
  • is in regular contact with children with a chronic physical condition who are between 8 and 12-years-old.
  • speak fluently French

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Health care professionals who are not in regular contact with children, 8 to 12 years- old, with a chronic physical condition
  • Parents with a child with CPC who is not 8 to 12 years old
  • Participants who do not speak French

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: Treatment
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Other: Group A. Focus group
Individuals will participate in one or several, semi-structured focus group meetings.
Other: Focus group meetings
Focus group meetings with different experts in the domain of CPCs (health care professionals) and/or parents or family members of a child with CPC. Focus group meetings will be facilitated by one or two study investigators. Group discussions will be audio-recorded.
Other: Individual interviews
Individual qualitative interviews (semi-directive), conducted by one or two study facilitators.
Other: Group B. Individual
Individuals will participate in a semi-structured qualitative interview.
Other: Focus group meetings
Focus group meetings with different experts in the domain of CPCs (health care professionals) and/or parents or family members of a child with CPC. Focus group meetings will be facilitated by one or two study investigators. Group discussions will be audio-recorded.
Other: Individual interviews
Individual qualitative interviews (semi-directive), conducted by one or two study facilitators.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Interview data outcomes
Time Frame: October 2021-December 2024
Interview questions will explore: 1) emotional and cognitive difficulties and resources of children with CPC, 2) emotional and cognitive needs of children with CPC. Audio data from semi-structured group meetings and semi-structured individual interviews will be transcribed and analysed with thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006).
October 2021-December 2024

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Interview data outcomes and systematic review results
Time Frame: October 2021-December 2024
Narrative comparison of emerged themes from the thematic analysis of qualitative interview data, to results of the systematic literature review.
October 2021-December 2024

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Université Catholique de Louvain

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Stéphane Moniotte, Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc UCLouvain

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.

General Publications

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 (Actual)

October 1, 2021

Primary Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2024

Study Completion (Anticipated)

December 1, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

September 21, 2021

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 9, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

March 21, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 21, 2023

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 9, 2023

Last Verified

March 1, 2023

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2021/14JUI/269
  • 813546 (Other Grant/Funding Number: European Union Horizon 2020 Program)

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

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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