Reducing Children's Racial Biases Via a Parent-Led Intervention

June 3, 2026 updated by: University of Wisconsin, Madison
The goal of this clinical trial is to test a parent-led program for reducing children's racial biases in White families. The main question it aims to answer is: With training, can parents effectively address their children's racial biases? Parent will receive training and tools for addressing their children's racial biases. Researchers will study effects on both parents' and children's racial biases.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

704

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 Locations

  • United States
    • Wisconsin
      • Madison, Wisconsin, United States, 53705
        • Waisman Center at UW-Madison

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

5 years and older (Child, Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • The child is 5.00 to 7.99 years of age
  • The child participant and their parent are both non-Hispanic White

Exclusion criteria are:

  • Non-proficiency in English on the part of the parent or the child
  • The parent is <18 years old
  • The child or parent identifies with another racial/ethnic identity in addition to White

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: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: EmBARK
Parents receive a narrated training program about children's racial biases and read books that are focused on race with their children.
Behavioral: EmBARK
The narrated training teaches parents about children's biases and introduces multiple strategies for addressing children's biases. Families receive children's books to help practice the strategies.
Experimental: Popular guidance
Parents receive interesting popular press articles about children's racial biases and read books that are focused on race with their children.
Behavioral: Popular guidance
The popular press articles teach parents about children's biases and guide parents about how to talk to children about race. Families receive children's books focused on race to help practice talking about race.
Experimental: Practice first
Parents practice discussing books about animals with their children first, and then receive a narrated training program about children's racial biases and read books that are focused on race with their children.
Behavioral: Practice first
Animal books are provided to parents to help them practice talking to their children when reading books. Then, families receive a training program about race as well as children's books about race.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in Likelihood of Child's Racial Bias
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Total possible range of scores from 1-5. Higher scores mean higher likelihood of bias.
Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Change in Concern about Children's Racial Bias
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Total possible range of scores from 1-10. Higher scores indicate more concern.
Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Change in Concern about Own Child's Bias
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Total possible range of scores from 1-10. Higher scores indicate more concern.
Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Change in Motivation to Regulate Children's Bias
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Total possible range of scores from 1-10. Higher scores mean greater motivation.
Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Change in Self-Efficacy for Addressing Children's Bias
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Total possible range of scores from 1-7. Higher scores mean greater self-efficacy.
Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Change in Intergroup Liking
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Total possible range of scores is -12 to +12. Higher scores reflect more ingroup liking.
Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Change in Diversity Preference
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Total possible range of scores is 0 to 4. Higher scores mean a greater preference for homogeneous groups.
Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Change in Reactions to Discrimination: Evaluation
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Total possible range of scores is -6 to +6.
Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Change in Reactions to Discrimination: Confrontation
Time Frame: Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Participants can score 0 or 1, with the higher score reflecting confrontation.
Baseline, Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Change in Predicting Parents' Attitudes
Time Frame: Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)
Total possible range of scores is -6 to +6.
Post-Test 1 (up to 4 weeks on study), Post-Test 2 (up to 16 weeks on study)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Collaborators

Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)

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)

April 25, 2023

Primary Completion (Actual)

January 15, 2026

Study Completion (Actual)

January 15, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 29, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 29, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

April 10, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

June 4, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 3, 2026

Last Verified

June 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2020-1026
  • 1R01HD106970-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • Psychology (Other Identifier: UW Madison)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Individual participant data collected during the trial, after de-identification, will be shared. Additionally, the study protocol, statistical analysis plan, informed consent form, and analytic code will be shared. The materials will be shared upon publication of primary outcomes, and will be available indefinitely. They will be shared via an open science platform, namely the Open Science Framework (OSF). Anyone may access the data to verify study outcomes or make additional data discoveries.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

The materials will be shared upon publication of primary outcomes, and will be available indefinitely.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

The data will be shared via an open science platform, namely the Open Science Framework (OSF). Anyone may access the data to verify study outcomes or make additional data discoveries.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ICF
  • ANALYTIC_CODE

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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