Behavioral Parent Training With and Without AI Support for Children With Disruptive Behaviors

March 9, 2026 updated by: Pablo Vidal-Ribas Belil, Fundació Sant Joan de Déu

A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial of Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) With or Without AI Support in Children With Disruptive Behaviors

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if adding an artificial intelligence (AI) application called to standard Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) helps families with children who have disruptive behavior problems. It will also help researchers understand if the app is easy to use and helpful for parents.

The main question it aims to answer is:

- Is it feasible and acceptable for parents to use the AI app alongside their therapy sessions?

The secondary questions it aims to answer are:

  • Does the app help reduce children's disruptive behaviors and irritability more than therapy alone?
  • Does using the app help lower stress, anxiety, and depression levels for the parents?

Researchers will compare:

  1. Standard BPT: Parents receive 8 weekly group training sessions (online).
  2. BPT plus ParenteAI: Parents receive the same 8 weekly sessions plus 24/7 access to an AI virtual assistant for personalized support.

Participants will:

  • Attend 8 weekly group training sessions.
  • Complete surveys about their child's behavior and their own well-being at baseline, after group training sessions 4 and 8, and 3 and 6 months after finalizing the group training.
  • If in the experimental group, use the ParenteAI app to get real-time coaching and support for managing their child's behavior at home.
  • Provide feedback on their experience and satisfaction with the program.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study seeks to evaluate new ways to support families with children exhibiting disruptive behavior problems, one of the leading causes of referral to mental health services. Although Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) has proven to be a highly effective treatment, many children do not receive adequate care due to a lack of resources and overstretched services. Therefore, this project explores whether the use of the AI-based application can increase the efficacy and accessibility of BPT.

Objectives: The primary objective is to examine the feasibility of adding the AI app to group-based BPT (acceptability, utility, satisfaction, therapeutic alliance, and attendance).

As a secondary objective, the study will evaluate the clinical impact of the AI app in reducing disruptive behaviors and irritability in children, as well as decreasing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress in parents.

Design: This is a randomized controlled trial with two conditions: (A) a control group, which will receive 8 weekly sessions of BPT (online) followed by treatment as usual for 6 months; and (B) an experimental group, which will receive the same BPT plus continuous access to the ParenteAI app, offering automated and personalized support via a 24/7 virtual assistant. Group assignment will be randomized using balanced blocks.

Outcome Measures:

Primary: Acceptability, utility (TAI), satisfaction (NPS), therapeutic alliance (WAI-SR), attendance, and dropout rates.

Secondary: Disruptive behaviors (ECBI), irritability (ARI), parental symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress (DASS-21), and general psychopathology (SDQ), in addition to sociodemographic data and clinical diagnoses. Qualitative assessments of the experience with ParenteAI will also be collected.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

40

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

  • Spain
    • Barcelona
      • Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain, 08950
        • Recruiting
        • Hospital Sant Joan de Déu

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:

  • Being a primary caregiver with a child aged 5 to 12 years exhibiting disruptive behaviors (e.g., symptoms of ODD, CD, IED, ADHD, and/or unspecified behavioral problems).
  • Having access to an electronic device and regular internet access.
  • Stable concomitant intervention including medications throughout the study.
  • Speak Spanish or Catalan language.
  • Signed informed consent by parents or legal guardians of the child.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Having ASD as primary diagnosis.
  • Psychosis, self-harming behaviors, severe mood disorder.
  • Known Intelligent quotient < 70
  • Caregivers and/or children receiving any concurrent psychological treatment.
  • No signing the informant consent.

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

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: BPT
Parents that receive 8 weekly online sessions of behavioral parent training (BPT). The program will include 8 sessions, including psychoeducation about goals and behaviors, special time, praise, clear instructions, rewards, active ignoring, cool down time, and school behavior. The BPT sessions are basedon a combination of the Module of conduct problems of the MATCH-ADCT program from Chorpita and Weisz (Modular Approach to Therapy for Children wit h Anxiety, Depression, Trauma, or Conduct Problems) (Chorpita & Weisz, 2009), the BPT program from Russell A. Barkley (Barkley, R.A., 2013. Defiant children: A clinician's manual for assessment and parent training. Guilford press.), and the program from Alan E. Kazdin (Kazdin, A. E. (2005). Parent management training: Treatment for oppositional, aggressive, and antisocial behavior in children and adolescents. Oxford University Press.).
Behavioral: Behavioral Parent Training (BPT)
Eight (8) weekly online sessions of BPT
Other Names:
  • Parent Management Training (PMT)
Experimental: BPT+AI app
Parents that receive 8 weekly online sessions of behavioral parent training (BPT) and have access to AI app 24/7. Parents will be given access to ParenteAI app and will be asked to open an account. When starting the app, they will be greeted by a therapist assistant called PAT (an AI agent) that will guide parents through different stages of BPT modules and ask any question they might have anytime anywhere in form of a chatbot. Specifically, the app has two dashboards: 1) A behavioral parent training divided in 8 core modules and several optional modules, in which PAT provides evidence-based manualized BPT, and that mirror the sessions from the BPT group. Parents using ParenteAI will work on each module the week before that topic is discussed in the BPT groups. 2) A chatbot with a curated knowledge base on BPT (trained on same manuales) where parents can talk and ask questions to PAT about anything related to parenting, providing specific feedback, 24/7.
Combination product: Behavioral Parent Training (BPT) + Support of AI app
Eight (8) weekly online sessions of BPT supported by AI app, with access 24/7 from baseline to 6 month follow up after last group session.
Other Names:
  • AI-enhanced intervention

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Acceptability of AI support
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 months follow up
This will be measured by the total number of modules completed, number of In-the-moment support interactions with ParenteAi initiated by parent, number of messages exchanged, words sent by the parent, and average words per message.
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 6 months follow up
Usefulness of BPT with or without AI support
Time Frame: Week 4 and 8 (Postreatment)
This will be measured with the Therapy Attitude Inventory (TAI; Eyberg, 1993 Eyberg & Johnson, 1974). The TAI measures satisfaction with parent training, parent-child treatments, and family therapy. The scale consists of 10 items rated on a five-point Likert scale, with 1 indicating dissatisfaction or worsening of problems and 5 indicating maximum satisfaction or improvement. The total score ranges from 10 to 50.
Week 4 and 8 (Postreatment)
Satisfaction with AI application support
Time Frame: Week 8 (Post-treatment)
This will be measured with the Net Promoter Score (NPS), a metric that measures the likelihood of parents, in this case, recommending the use of Parente.AI application to other parents with similar problems. The NPS is calculated by asking parents to rate, on a scale of 0 to 10, how likely they are to recommend. The score is then derived by subtracting the percentage of "detractors" (those who score 0-6) from the percentage of "promoters" (those who score 9-10). The resulting score ranges from -100 to +100.
Week 8 (Post-treatment)
Therapeutic alliance with AI-assistant
Time Frame: Week 4, Week 8 (Post-treatment), 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up.
Therapeutic alliance with PAT (AI-assisted therapist) will be measured with the Working Alliance Inventory (WAI-SR). The WAI measures three important aspects of the therapeutic alliance: 1. Agreement about the therapeutic tasks, 2. Agreement about the therapeutic goals, and 3. The affective bond between clinician and client. The Working Alliance Inventory-Short Revised (WAI-SR) is a refined version designed to measure these key aspects with greater clarity and efficiency.
Week 4, Week 8 (Post-treatment), 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up.
Treatment Attendance Rate
Time Frame: Through the end of the 8-week intervention
Percentage of group sessions attended. Calculated as (Sessions Attended / Total Sessions) x 100.
Through the end of the 8-week intervention
Study Dropout Rate
Time Frame: Week 8 (Post-treatment), 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up.
Percentage of participants who withdraw from the study or discontinue the intervention.
Week 8 (Post-treatment), 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Child Disruptive Behavior (ECBI)
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up
The ECBI is a 36-item parent-report questionnaire used to assess the frequency and severity of disruptive behaviors in children aged 2-16. Parents rate each item on two scales; the intensity scale measures how frequently the behavior occurs on a 7-point Likert scale (1=never, 7=always), and the problem scales indicates whether the parent considers the behavior a problem (yes/no).
Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up
Child Irritability (ARI)
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up
Measured via the Affective Reactivity Index. Total score ranges from 0 to 12; higher scores indicate greater irritability
Baseline, Week 4, Week 8, 3-month follow-up, and 6-month follow-up
Parental Psychological Distress (DASS-21)
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 8 (Post-treatment), and 6-month follow-up
Measured via the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale. Evaluates negative emotional states across three subscales. Higher scores indicate greater distress.
Baseline, Week 8 (Post-treatment), and 6-month follow-up
General Psychopathology and Impact (SDQ)
Time Frame: Baseline, Week 8 (Post-treatment), and 6-month follow-up
Measured via the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Total difficulties score ranges from 0 to 40; higher scores indicate greater emotional/behavioral problems. Includes an Impact supplement with scores ranging 0-10, higher scores indicate greater impairment.
Baseline, Week 8 (Post-treatment), and 6-month follow-up

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Qualitative Feedback on AI application
Time Frame: Week 8 (Post-treatment)
Open-ended assessment of parental experience using two questions: "What did you like the most?" and "What would you recommend improving?"
Week 8 (Post-treatment)

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Fundació Sant Joan de Déu

Collaborators

Parente AI

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Pablo Vidal-Ribas Belil, PhD, Fundació de Recerca Sant Joan de Déu

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 (Estimated)

April 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

March 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

March 9, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 9, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

March 13, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

March 13, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

March 9, 2026

Last Verified

March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • PIC-172-25

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

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.

Clinical Trials on Irritability

Clinical Trials on Behavioral Parent Training (BPT)

Search Similar Trials

Sponsors and Collaborators

Medical Conditions

Drug Interventions

CROs by country

CROs in Uganda

Conditions

Rare Diseases

Drug Interventions

Dietary Supplements

Sponsor/Collaborators

Locations

Subscribe