Supporting Children and Young People to Live Well with Coeliac Disease

December 11, 2024 updated by: University of Surrey

Development and Feasibility of a Self-help Psychological Intervention to Support Gluten-free Diet Management, Psychological Wellbeing and Quality-of-life in Children and Young People with Coeliac Disease

Managing a strict gluten-free diet is crucial for children and young people with coeliac disease. However, this can have adverse effects on psychological well-being and quality of life. Despite appeals from families, clinicians, and researchers, psychological support is not routinely provided to these families. This project aims to adapt existing self-help psychological resources used for food allergy, gastrointestinal disease, and type one diabetes to cater to families dealing with coeliac disease. The process involves collaboration with families and clinicians to modify these resources. Subsequently, a feasibility randomised controlled trial will be conducted to assess the viability and acceptability of these resources. In the trial, 50 families will complete well-being and quality of life questionnaires, along with assessments of their child's gluten-free dietary management. Families will be divided into groups receiving the psychological resources either immediately or after a two-month delay. Follow-up questionnaires will be administered at one and two months for all families, regardless of intervention access. Feedback on the resources and research participation will be gathered. The expectation is that these self-help psychological resources for parents will enhance gluten-free diet management, quality of life for coeliac children and young people, and well-being for parents.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Coeliac disease is a common autoimmune condition in children, estimated to affect 1 in 100 in the UK. Coeliac disease can occur at any age and is treated with a lifelong gluten-free diet. When someone with coeliac disease eats gluten (a protein found in wheat, barley and rye), their immune system attacks itself and causes damage to the gut. If left undiagnosed and untreated long term, the disease can cause complications like growth problems, delayed puberty, tooth enamel defects, iron deficiency anaemia, chronic fatigue and, over time, osteoporosis. The good news is, these potential complications can be avoided with early diagnosis and treatment.

While strict management of the gluten-free diet has been linked to improvements in intestinal damage and quality of life, the relentless behavioural and social demands of detecting gluten is challenging. Often, families report concerns around attending family gatherings, school trips, and eating out at restaurants due to the potential for accidental gluten consumption. To manage these concerns, some families avoid social events entirely, which can affect school attendance and participation in normal childhood activities such as birthday parties and sleepovers. Children and young people (CYP) with coeliac disease have described feeling like a "nuisance" and may experience social stigma associated with their need to eat different food, frustration and isolation, and a higher probability of developing mental health conditions, such as depression, anxiety, or eating disorders.

A large body of research suggests that exposure to parental anxiety increases the risk of similar problems in CYP. CYP can learn that certain situations lead their parents to feel anxious, which may lead to them feeling threatened, and cope (usually by avoidance) in a similar manner. The same appears true for families with coeliac disease, where caregiver(s) with high levels of anxiety, have CYP with higher levels of anxiety. Whilst the gluten-free diet is essential for the management of coeliac disease, it is not enough to only address foods that must that be avoided in coeliac disease. Support must also address how to navigate a gluten-free diet that does not require social isolation and over-restriction. For CYP with coeliac disease, management of the gluten-free diet often relies on the caregiver(s), and so, intervention components must support the whole family system.

Self-help psychological interventions (interactive websites and books) for families of CYP with food allergy and type one diabetes already exist. These interventions appear impactful when embedded alongside routine care for CYP with food allergy, and looks promising for CYP with type one diabetes. These findings suggest that these psychological interventions reduce anxiety and increase wellbeing in caregiver(s), as well as their CYP. In line with family desires and health system policy, this project will adapt these existing self-help psychological interventions to support families of CYP with coeliac disease, and test the impact on caregiver(s) wellbeing, and CYP gluten-free diet management and wellbeing.

The anticipation is that the development and delivery of effective self-help psychological interventions for caregiver(s) of CYP with coeliac disease will support appropriate management of the gluten-free diet, alongside psychological wellbeing.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

95

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 Kingdom
      • Bristol, United Kingdom
        • Bristol Royal Hospital for Children
      • Guildford, United Kingdom
        • Royal Surrey County Hospital
      • Oxford, United Kingdom
        • Oxford Children's Hospital

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

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Caregiver(s) with a CYP between 8-11 years of age who report a diagnosis of coeliac disease
  • Willingness to take part in a self-help psychological intervention
  • Participant must have the ability to provide informed consent/assent. Caregiver(s) who consent to the study will still be able to take part, even if their CYP does not provide assent to complete outcome measures

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Families participating in another intervention-based research will not be eligible
  • Participant identified by clinical team as not appropriate (e.g. undergoing treatment for other complex difficulties)
  • English proficiency unsuitable for participation in self-help psychological intervention and/ or online survey.

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: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Parent self-help psychological resource
A self-help psychological resource will be provided for parents to use with their CYP in the home.
Behavioral: Parent self-help psychological resource
A self-help psychological resource designed alongside families and clinicians, to be delivered to parents of CYP with coeliac disease. The resource will focus on providing psychoeducation on the gluten-free diet, concerns around dietary management, using family's strengths to support dietary management, managing outside the home, and transition to independent management of the gluten-free diet.
No Intervention: Wait list control
Parents randomised to the control arm will be put on the waiting list (wait-list controls) to receive the group intervention after they have completed their final follow-up at 2 months.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing scale
Time Frame: Baseline, 1-month, 2-months

The scale has 14 items assessing various aspects of mental wellbeing. Scores range from 14 to 70, reflecting greater mental wellbeing with higher scores.

The scale has 14 items assessing various aspects of mental wellbeing. Scores range from 14 to 70, reflecting greater mental wellbeing with higher scores.
Baseline, 1-month, 2-months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Knowledge about the gluten-free diet assessment
Time Frame: Baseline, 1-month, 2-months
A bespoke measure developed for this project, in consultation with people with coeliac disease and dietitians, to assess parent knowledge of the gluten-free diet. Scores range from 0-12, with higher scores indicating greater knowledge.
Baseline, 1-month, 2-months
The Pediatric Quality of Life scale (parent-report)
Time Frame: Baseline, 1-month, 2-months
Parent reported measure to assess children's quality of life. Scores are converted to a 0 to 100 scale, with higher scores indicating better quality of life.
Baseline, 1-month, 2-months
Gluten-free diet adherence (parent-report)
Time Frame: Baseline, 1-month, 2-months
Parent reported measure to assess children's gluten-free diet adherence, consisting of five levels (0-4). Levels 0 or 1 indicate poor diet adherence, 2 indicates moderate adherence, and 3-4 indicates strict adherence.
Baseline, 1-month, 2-months
The Celiac Disease Quality of Life measure (child-report)
Time Frame: Baseline, 1-month, 2-months
Child reported measure to assess children's quality of life (optional). Scores range from 0-52, with higher scores indicating greater quality of life.
Baseline, 1-month, 2-months
Gluten-free diet adherence (child-report) Gluten-free diet adherence (child-report, Biagi et al., 2009).
Time Frame: Baseline, 1-month, 2-months
Child reported measure to assess children's gluten-free diet adherence (optional) consisting of five levels (0-4). Levels 0 or 1 indicate poor diet adherence, 2 indicates moderate adherence, and 3-4 indicates strict adherence.
Baseline, 1-month, 2-months

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Number of parents invited to the study
Time Frame: 2-months
Number of parents invited to the study
2-months
Number of parents interested in participating in the study
Time Frame: 2-months
Number of parents interested in participating in the study
2-months
Number of parents meeting eligibility criteria
Time Frame: 2-months
Number of parents meeting eligibility criteria
2-months
Number of parents participating in the intervention
Time Frame: Baseline
Number of parents participating in the intervention
Baseline
Number of parents recruited to the intervention
Time Frame: Baseline
Number of parents recruited to the intervention
Baseline
Number of parents completing the intervention
Time Frame: 2-months
Number of parents completing the intervention
2-months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Surrey

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Rose-Marie Satherley, University of Surrey

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)

May 2, 2024

Primary Completion (Actual)

October 9, 2024

Study Completion (Actual)

October 9, 2024

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

August 8, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

August 17, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

August 23, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 25, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 11, 2024

Last Verified

May 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • SPON-023-17

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

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

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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