Single-Session Psychotherapy for Young Kids Through Patient Engagement Techniques
Phase: NA
Conditions: Mental Health Issue, Family Dynamics, Stress, Psychological, Stress, Emotional, Child Development
Sponsor: University of Manitoba

 
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Single-Session Psychotherapy for Parents of Young Kids through Patient Engagement 
Techniques 
Leslie Roos, University of Manitoba 
Emily Cameron, University of Manitoba 
 
Identifiers: 
NCT ID not yet assigned 
Unique protocol ID: SPYKids 
 
 
 
 
Date of Document: 01/27/2023 
 
 

 
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Table of Contents 
Team ............................................................................................................................................... 3 
Project Research Question(s) ....................................................................................................... 3 
Summary of Main Goals ................................................................................................................. 3 
Project Description ....................................................................................................................... 4 
Background and Rationale ............................................................................................................. 4 
Aims and Hypotheses ...................................................................................................................... 7 
Research Methods .......................................................................................................................... 8 
Participants ......................................................................................................................................................... 8 
Design & Study Procedures ............................................................................................................................... 8 
Measures ........................................................................................................................................................... 13 
Data Collection & Management ...................................................................................................................... 13 
Statistical Analyses ........................................................................................................................................... 17 
Knowledge Translation .................................................................................................................................... 18 
Timeline & Budget .......................................................................................................................................... 18 
Implications .................................................................................................................................. 19 
References .................................................................................................................................... 20 
 
 
 

 
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Single-Session Psychotherapy for Parents of Young Kids through Patient Engagement 
Techniques 
Team 
Principal Investigator: 
Name: Dr. Leslie E. Roos 
Organization/affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba 
Phone #: 431-998-7218 
Email: Leslie.Roos@umanitoba.ca 
Co-Investigators: 
Dr. Emily E. Cameron, Department of Psychology, University of Manitoba  
Dr. Kristin Reynolds, Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry, University of 
Manitoba  
Dr. Laurence Y. Katz, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba  
Dr. Cara Katz, Department of Psychiatry, University of Manitoba  
Dr. Ana Hanlon-Dearman, Pediatrics & Child Health, University of Manitoba  
Dr. Kristene Cheung, Department of Clinical Health Psychology, University of Manitoba  
Dr. Jessica L. Schleider, Department of Psychology, Stony Brook University  
Project Research Question(s) 
Summary of Main Goals 
Recent research in our lab has shown that parents of children with neurodevelopmental 
disorders (NDDs) experience elevated parenting stress, especially in light of the COVID-19 
pandemic. The SPYKids Program seeks to provide a first step to encouraging hope for parents of 
children with NDDs on waiting lists and improve their ability to cope with family stressors 

 
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through a single session consultation model. SPYKids has been designed for families on waitlists 
at local organizations, such as Specialized Services for Children and Youth (SSCY), St.Amant, 
MATC, and KIDTHINK. The purpose of this single-session intervention (SSI) is not to 
completely resolve challenges, but to provide parents with some help, encouragement, and 
motivation in the interim while waiting for more comprehensive services. A parent advisory 
panel and service providers have informed program development aligned with parent-driven 
priorities that enhance quality of care and long-term child outcomes (PSREB Approval 
P2020:064 at the University of Manitoba; Ref # 2013 at SSCY). Team expertise has informed 
the creation of a program that complements existing services and has sustainable impacts on 
child well-being. Now we seek to conduct a pilot randomized control trial on the SPYKids 
program. Our main goals are to determine the feasibility and acceptability of the SPYKids 
Program compared to services as usual (SAU; provincial waitlists for assessments or services, 
including SSCY service waitlists). We are also interested in changes in parenting stress, mental 
health, and parent and child well-being between the SPYKids and SAU groups before and after 
the SSI. 
Project Description 
Background and Rationale 
Neurodevelopmental disorders, including attention deficit hyperactivity, autism, and fetal 
alcohol spectrum disorders, are experienced by 7-14% of Canadian children and represent the 
leading cause of disability in childhood.1 Symptoms of NDDs, such as difficulties with 
communication and impulsivity, are linked to impaired quality of life, with commonly co-
occurring behaviour and emotional (i.e., mental health) problems exacerbating the burden of 
illness.2 In fact, emergent mental health problems are more closely linked to family distress than 

 
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diagnosis-specific symptoms, with over 85% of families reporting clinically elevated parenting 
stress and low child quality of life.3,4 Up to 70% of children with NDDs will go on to develop 
additional mental illness in childhood, further highlighting the importance of early intervention.5  
Supportive parent-child relationships are critical for promoting resilient long-term development 
in children with NDDs.6,7 Familial influences are particularly pronounced in the first 5 years, 
when children develop foundational emotional and behavioural regulation skills.8 During this 
time, children benefit greatly from supportive parenting to understand their emotional 
experiences, learn to cope with distress, and manage impulsivity in prosocial ways.9,10 Despite 
the importance of early intervention for promoting positive mental health, less than 25% of 
families of children with NDDs receive services.11,12 This is due, in part, to lengthy waitlists for 
initial assessments (up to 1.5 years in Manitoba) and high therapeutic dropout rates, with families 
attending an average of 3.9 of 16 recommended sessions.11,12 There is immediate and critical 
need for novel approaches that provide accessible front-line, timely support to families. 
Parent-directed single-session interventions (SSIs) are designed to increase parental 
ability to understand and address emergent mental health problems. Defined as “specific, 
structured programs that intentionally involve just one visit or encounter with a provider,” SSIs 
can teach parents how to support children’s emotional development and impulse control to 
reduce mental health problems, while reducing high-conflict parenting that can worsen mental 
health over time. SSIs offer a highly scalable approach, with demonstrated efficacy (medium 
effects) across a variety of psychiatric concerns.13,14 However, they have yet to be adapted to the 
unique needs of caregivers of preschool-aged children with NDDs.14 SSIs are evidenced-based as 
both a stand-alone service and an immediate support complement to waitlists in existing care 
systems.  

 
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The need for brief interventions that can be widely implemented is both critical and 
timely. Current waitlists for NDD assessments following pediatrician referral are approximately 
12 months in Manitoba, with similar lengths of 6-30 months across Canada.15 Even after 
diagnoses, many families wait 6 months for follow-up services, which can result in children 
aging out of early intervention eligibility at school entry. Creating concrete supports that can be 
offered to families on NDD waitlists was identified as a key need in the Manitoba Advocate for 
Children and Youth 2021 “Bridging the Gaps” report to address the right to substantive equality 
for children with disabilities. Using strategies for patient-oriented research (SPOR), our project 
represents a first step towards the long-term goal of preventing mental illness for children 
referred for NDDs through an early, scalable, rapidly-deployable intervention. 
Theoretical Foundations 
Consistent with the Lagging Skills theory, we propose that impairments in cognitive, 
emotion regulation, or social skill domains underlie mental health problems in children with 
NDDs, such that children try to get their needs met in maladaptive ways that are stressful to 
parents.11-13 It is common for parents to experience frustration in response to difficult behaviours 
or emotional expressions and react in harsh ways in an effort to control the situation. However, 
such interaction difficulties fail to support child skill development and can worsen mental health 
problems by increasing children’s emotional distress.16 Psychosocial stressors contribute to child 
mental illness by limiting parents’ capacity to provide warm, responsive caregiving important for 
optimal development and contributing to household instability.17 Although specific NDD 
symptoms vary, many child mental health problems stem from common themes of 
underdeveloped skills and a mismatch with parental expectations. However, there is also a 
shared opportunity to prevent mental illness by empowering parents to understand why children 

 
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develop behavioral and emotional problems and how to create a supportive environment. Parents 
can learn to help children develop skills to meet their unique needs, leading to positive child 
mental health and parenting relationships.18,19  
Aims and Hypotheses 
The objective of this study is to assess the feasibility and acceptability of an SSI (i.e., SPYKids) 
for parents on local Manitoban service and program waitlists who have children with health, 
behavioural, and developmental needs. This objective will be divided into Primary and 
Secondary outcomes. 
1. Primary Outcomes: [FEASIBILTY & ACCEPTABILITY]: 
Primary outcomes are aimed at determining the feasibility and acceptability of SPYKids 
compared to SAU. This will be done through monitoring of both clinical coach adherence 
to protocols via a fidelity checklist and parent satisfaction of the overall SSI via feedback 
questionnaires including both scaled responses and open-ended responses, using both 
quantitative and qualitative methodology. Parent feedback of the SSI will be assessed 
using the Program Feedback Scale20 (adapted from Dr. Schleider’s research), and the 
feedback questionnaire, which was created by researchers in the lab for the purposes of 
this study. Please see the attached Appendix C for all questionnaires. 
2. Secondary Outcomes: 
Secondary outcomes include metrics of parenting stress and mental health between the 
SPYKids and SAU groups before and after the SPYKids session. Other exploratory 
outcomes will include both parent and child well-being. 
• Parent well-being: Secondary outcomes related to parent well-being will be 
changes in parenting stress (Parenting Stress Index21) and parent mental health 

 
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(Patient Health Questionnaire-922, Generalized Anxiety Disorder – 7 item 
scale23, PROMIS Anger - Short Form24). Exploratory outcomes include 
changes in hope (Beck Hopelessness Scale-425), Perceived control/agency26, 
Readiness to change (Readiness Ruler27), and Problem Solving26. 
• Child well-being: Primary analyses will compare changes in child well-being 
scores (Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire28) between the SPYKids vs 
SAU groups. Secondary analyses will examine persistence of these effects at 
the 3-month follow-up. 
Research Methods 
Participants 
We plan to recruit 70-140 participants and hope to randomize 70 participants to either the 
SAU or SSI groups (n= 35 per condition). In order to be eligible to participate, they must have a 
residence in Manitoba, be at least 18 years old, must identify as a primary caregiver to a child 
who is 2-5 years old, and the child must be on a waitlist for Neurodevelopmental Services in 
Manitoba (See Eligibility Screener in Appendix C). 
Design & Study Procedures 
Recruitment. Participants will be recruited through our established partnership with the 
Neurodevelopmental Service clinics at SSCY Centre, including the Child Development Clinic 
and Manitoba FASD Centre. Individuals identifying as primary caregivers to children with 
additional health, developmental or behavioural needs will be invited via the SSCY “consent to 
contact” process and/or via social media postings (see attached social media infographic 
examples in Appendix A). Social media postings will be posted across Hearts & Minds Lab 
accounts (See Appendix A). Additionally, we will also be asking participants to share our study 

 
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and contact information with other prospective participants so that prospective participants can 
contact us if interested. There will be clear communication to ensure that families understand 
that project participation will not affect their other services at SSCY. In addition to SSCY we 
plan to reach out to other local Manitoba organizations (St.Amant, KIDTHINK, MATC) to 
recruit through their processes after approval is gained. 
Consent. Recruited parents/caregivers will click on a link to take part in the eligibility 
screener via REDCap (sent out via email with recruitment information from the local Manitoba 
organization, or in response to email correspondence from potential participants from social 
media postings). When participants click on the link for the eligibility screener, they will see the 
consent form first, and will be required to click “agree” or “disagree” to consent prior to starting 
the survey on REDCap. When eligible participants are redirected from the eligibility screener to 
the pre-questionnaire, they will first see a more detailed study specific consent form at the start 
of the online pre-questionnaire. This consent form will also be provided at the start of the follow-
up and post-questionnaires. This consent form will be attached to the first page of the online 
REDCap survey. Participants will read the consent form and will respond to it with the click of a 
button to indicate if they would like to “agree” or “decline” to participate. They may also decline 
to participate by simply closing the browser prior to starting or at any point throughout the 
survey. Additionally, consent will also be discussed at the start of the session for participants 
randomized to the SSI group. 
Participant Involvement in Study. For a flowchart of participant contact points please 
see attachment ‘SPYKids Points of Contact’ in Appendix D. After completing the online 
eligibility screener, those who are ineligible will also be automatically sent a compassionate 
email via REDCap informing them that they are not eligible, with a resource list of mental 

 
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health, crisis, and parenting resources. Contact information for the research team will also be 
included should they have any questions regarding eligibility. Participants who are eligible will 
be informed via REDCap and automatically sent to the pre-questionnaire. Participants will be 
screened using questions (e.g., “Are you currently on a waitlist for accessing services for your 
child?”). Please see Appendix C for REDCap the Eligibility Screener. 
Quick Summary of Participant Contact Points if eligible (N=70): 
1. Participants will read the main program consent form. 
2. If they agree to consent, participants will begin the online pre-questionnaires. 
3. Following the pre-questionnaires participants will be randomized to either SAU or SSI 
group via ID# using an online tool (randomizer.org) and will be notified via email of what group 
they have been randomized to. 
4. Participants randomized to the SSI Group (n=35) will take part in the 90-minute SSI 
via telehealth, the post-questionnaires immediately post intervention and the 2 follow up 
questionnaires (2 weeks after the SSI and 3 months after the pre-questionnaire) to assess 
maintenance effects. Immediately following randomization, participants will be sent an email 
with an invitation to book a time for the SSI using Microsoft Bookings, a University of Manitoba 
App part of the Microsoft 365 suite of apps. Participants in this group will also receive a follow-
up email from the clinical coach 1-week following the SSI. 
5. Participants randomized to the SAU group (n=35) will receive services as usual on the 
SCCY waitlist, as well as receive a list of psychological and family support services. They will 
also participate in the eligibility screener, pre-questionnaires, the 2-week post questionnaires, and 
3-month post follow-up questionnaires. 
Further Details on Project Components: 

 
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SPYKids Consultation (SSI) (n=35): Within the pre-questionnaire, a family needs 
assessment via REDCap will identify parent areas of primary concern across child mental health 
and psychosocial resource needs (Appendix C). An MA-level trainee (supervised) or PhD-level 
trainee with clinical experience will review a summary of needs compiled by the project 
coordinator and then meet with the family in a 1.5-hour session. Sessions will be tailored to 
identified needs based on materials developed with the parent advisory panel, service providers, 
and the research team. Content will include psychoeducation, identification of 1-2 skills to 
address a primary mental health issue, brief practice of the skills, and specific plan to apply the 
skills at home to obtain a quantifiable reduction in symptom frequency over time. This will be 
done utilizing handouts created via our research team and guided/reviewed by clinical 
psychologists (Drs. Leslie Roos and Emily Cameron) to employ best-practices in promoting 
positive parent-child relationships and reducing parenting stress (See Appendix D). Lastly, 
families will be provided with specific recommendations for relevant services and informal 
supports from our family-focused resource list (Appendix D). As mentioned above, the purpose 
of the SSI is not to completely resolve challenges, but to provide parents with some help, 
encouragement, and motivation in the interim while waiting for other services. Around one week 
after participants attend the single session, they will receive a customized email summarizing 
what was discussed during the session by the clinical coach to build motivation (informed by Dr. 
Schleider’s methodology). 
The study will take place online, through Zoom Healthcare, REDCap, and through 
emailing with the research team and community organizations regarding support with 
recruitment procedures. Recruitment may take place at a variety of community-based services 
through postering, through email listservs, or talks by the research team. 

 
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The time commitment is approximately 3 hours for the SSI program group, and 1 hour 
for the SAU group. Participants in the SSI group will fill out a brief online screener (2 minutes), 
a pre-session questionnaire (30 minutes), attend the 90-minute single session, fill out a post-
session questionnaire (15 minutes), and then the two follow-up surveys (20 minutes each). 
Participants in the SAU group will also complete the brief online screener (2 minutes) and the 
pre-session questionnaire (30 minutes). After randomization, they will only complete the two 
follow-up surveys (20 minutes each). 
Honorarium. Participants in both groups will receive up to $75 in Amazon e-gift cards 
for their participation. Participants will be compensated at certain steps of the research project 
following the SSI (or pre-questionnaires for the SAU group) to encourage continued interest and 
participation, given that the project takes place over a longer period of time, and to compensate 
already busy parents for their time. Notably this compensation is designed to compensate time 
for assessments (questionnaires) only, but not the intervention time. Due to randomization both 
the SAU and the SSI group will receive the same $75 compensation in the form of e-gift cards 
for participating. Participants in the SSI group condition will receive $25 e-gift cards after taking 
the following questionnaires: the post-session questionnaires (which follows the pre-session 
questionnaires and SSI Zoom session) and after each of the two follow-up questionnaires (at 2 
weeks and 3 months after the session). Participants in the SAU condition will complete the pre-
questionnaire and after randomization will receive a $25 dollar e-gift card to parallel the $25 e-
gift card received by the SSI group. Consistent with the SSI group, they will receive a $25 e-gift 
card after each follow up questionnaire is completed (1 month and 3 months after pre-
questionnaire) for a total of up to $75 gift card for participating. 

 
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Participant Withdrawal. As soon as participants finish a step in the study outlined 
above to receive compensation, or start a step and then decline to continue, they will be emailed 
with a gift card code to claim their compensation. However, should participants choose to 
withdraw during completion of the questionnaires, it may be unclear if the participant is 
officially withdrawing or taking a break from the survey. As the survey is designed to allow for 
participants to return and complete unfinished questions at a later date, withdrawal will not be 
obvious. As such, the consent form outlines that should participants wish to withdraw while in 
the process of completing the questionnaires, they can notify the researchers through email to 
receive the e-gift card for their participation up to that point. The consent form clearly states that 
there are no consequences to participant withdrawal. 
Measures 
Please see Appendix C for a table of questionnaires, and copies of all questionnaires. 
Data Collection & Management 
Due to the nature of the single-session consultation pilot there is no way to make 
participation anonymous to the researchers, as participants will meet with the researchers via 
Zoom Healthcare. Participants will enter identifying information only on the eligibility screener 
(e.g., name, email address) and booking system (Microsoft Bookings). Only the PIs, project 
coordinators, and lab coordinator will have access to the surveys. Directly identifying 
information will be kept on a password protected file on the University of Manitoba’s OneDrive. 
The project coordinator will send password protected files to clinical coaches prior to each 
session containing relevant information (e.g., participant name, participant email so clinical 
coach can send a follow-up). Clinical coaches (or research staff) will state that everything shared 

 
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within the 90-minute SSI will be kept confidential between the acting clinical coach and the 
participant with exceptions to concerns regarding the safety of the participant or others. 
Questionnaires will be completed through the online REDCap portal. This information 
will be stored on the secure REDCap survey server maintained by MedIT of the Max Rady 
College of Medicine. Only the principal investigator, project coordinator, and a select few trusted 
research assistants will have login access to the survey responses on REDCap. Directly 
identifiable data (questionnaires, booking system, SSI Zoom session), anonymized data (open-
ended responses that are edited to remove identifiable data), and de-identified data (all data will 
eventually be moved to the Secure Research Environment and responses will only be linked to 
de-identified numbers) will be collected. This information will be stored on the secure REDCap 
survey server maintained by MedIT of the Max Rady College of Medicine. Only the principal 
investigator, project coordinator, and a select few trusted research assistants will have login 
access to the survey responses on REDCap. 
Anonymized data will be stored on password protected lab computers only accessible by 
research staff. Once data collection is complete, it will be moved to the Secure Research 
Environment after randomization; when downloaded, all identifying information will be 
removed. This plan aligns with the University of Manitoba's REDCap policies. All identifiable 
information (except full names as stated on consent forms) will be deleted after data collection is 
complete and study results have been distributed to participants. Anonymous survey data will be 
kept until 09/2027. It may be archived for future analyses, but since responses are completely 
anonymous there is no risk involved in storing this data long term. Directly identifiable data 
(e.g., name, email addresses) will be destroyed upon project completion (September 2023). 
Summary statistics (e.g., questionnaire subscales) may be shared on data repositories such as the 

 
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open science framework, and this is outlined in the consent forms. Birth dates will be converted 
into age in months and all information about birth date will be destroyed afterward. De-identified 
data will be stored on REDCap's Secure Research Environment and kept for an indefinite 
amount of time, as we cannot anticipate all possible future analyses that might be theoretically or 
practically useful. 
Other Data Collected. Participant ID keys will also be created. Participant ID keys will 
be directly identifiable. Participant ID keys will consist of participant emails, first names, and the 
de-identified number. This data will be directly identifiable. The participant ID keys will be 
saved on a password protected file on the University of Manitoba Onedrive. Only the PI, the 
project coordinators, and lab coordinator, will have access to this. This data will be destroyed 
upon project completion (expected September 2023). 
Additionally, a contact list for those that wish to receive a summary of research findings 
will be created. The survey may be directly identifiable on REDCap, as it will be linked to the 
participants email address, depending on whether or not a participant’s email address contains 
their name or other identifying information. This data will be collected in the pre-questionnaire 
portion of the study. After completing the pre-questionnaires, participants will be redirected to a 
separate REDCap project, and will be asked if they would like to receive summary statistics, and 
if so, they will enter their email. Once recruitment is completed, this project will be moved to the 
Secure Research Environment in REDCap. We will delete these emails once we are finished 
with planned analyses and have emailed the results to interested participants. Of note, while 
some study findings may be published as early as September 2023 from baseline data, future 
research on exploratory outcomes may take several years to complete. We plan to send out 

 
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results on an annual basis until all planned studies are complete, at which point, the email list 
will be permanently deleted. This is reflected in the consent forms. 
Another contact list will be created for those that wish to be contacted for future studies. 
The survey may be directly identifiable on REDCap, as it will be linked to the participants email 
address, depending on whether or not a participant’s email address contains their name or other 
identifying information. This data will be collected in the pre-questionnaire portion of the study. 
After completing the pre-questionnaires, participants will be redirected to a separate REDCap 
project, and will be asked if they would like to be contacted for future studies, and if so, they will 
enter their email. Once recruitment is completed, this project will be moved to the Secure 
Research Environment in REDCap. These emails will be stored indefinitely on the SRE. If 
participants contact us to remove their name from this list, we will permanently delete their 
contact information from the SRE. 
Online consent forms will collect participant full name and email addresses and therefore 
be directly identifiable. The REDCap Project containing the consent forms does not contain any 
PHI (all questionnaires are housed in a different project), in line with the University of 
Manitoba’s REDCap policies. This information will be stored securely on REDCap servers. 
They will be transferred from the REDCap Survey server and transferred the Secure Research 
Environment upon completion of recruitment. Consent forms will be stored on the Secure 
Research Environment for the expected duration of the project and its publications, in case of an 
audit. They will be destroyed by (09/2027). These will not be physical paper copies, but digital 
copies. 
In general, de-identified data will be password-protected and stored on OneDrive and 
shared with team members in the Hearts & Minds Lab via their University of Manitoba emails. 

 
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De-identified data (e.g., standardized questionnaire responses, aggregated program use data, 
sociodemographics linked to an ID number) may be made available on public data platforms 
such as open science framework or a requirement by a granting agency or journal, or to our 
partners outside of the University of Manitoba (i.e., Dr. J. Schleider). 
Statistical Analyses 
Across all self-report questionnaire outcomes, measures have excellent reliability and 
validity. This includes established cut-offs indicating mental health problem severity needs 
therapeutic services with high sensitivity/specificity to diagnostic interviews. Constructs with 
established tools from consortium agreements, per the COMET (Core Outcome Measures in 
Effectiveness Trials) Initiative are prioritized.29 
Primary outcome. Child mental health. The primary analyses will compare the change 
in child mental health symptom scores between (a) the SPYKids vs SAU group at p=0.05 using a 
linear model for the change, accounting for pre-intervention scores and important covariate of 
child age. Secondary analyses will examine persistence of these effects at the 3-month-follow-up 
by examining the time-by-intervention interactions in a linear mixed-effects model accounting 
for within-subject serial correlations, and between-subject effects of the intervention and age.  
Secondary outcomes. Parenting stress & mental health. We will use similar linear 
mixed-effects models for the analysis of key secondary outcomes. 
Exploratory outcomes. Parent Self-Efficacy. Exploratory analyses (SPYKids only) will 
assess the extent to which dimensions of parenting self-efficacy (hope,25 agency,26 readiness to 
change27) immediately following the intervention are associated with primary and secondary 
change. This will inform how immediate post-treatment progress in linked to subsequent 
improvements in well-being. Parent Satisfaction will be assessed to determine if key benchmark 

 
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acceptability is met 3.5/5 on an established scale.20 Participants will complete open-ended text-
based items allowing them to express their views on the intervention content, their engagement 
with this content, their satisfaction with their involvement in the intervention, and suggested 
improvements. Open-ended text items will be analyzed using thematic analysis.30 
General considerations. In general, p-values < .05 will be considered statistically 
significant, without controlling for multiple inference. Complete-case methods will be used for 
planned analyses; however, sensitivity analyses may be used to examine the impacts of 
imputation on conclusions, should the usual assumptions appear to be met (MAR, missing at 
random, or MCAR, missing completely at random). Data will be stored in REDCap following 
Good Clinical Practices.31 Analyses will be done in R v.4.0.0 and the lme4 package v 1.1-26.35 
Knowledge Translation 
Broadly, as mentioned in the SSCY Research Access Application Form, the results of 
this study may be disseminated through the Family Advisory Council, the Family Network 
Newsletter, reports to service providers at SSCY, theses, journal articles, conference 
publications, and reports to funding agencies. Study participants will be able to indicate if they 
would like to be emailed the results of the survey. Interested participants will receive an email 
that summarizes the results in lay language and using infographics no later than September 2023. 
We would be glad to coordinate additional KT avenues with the Research Development 
Coordinator as useful to the teams at SCCY (e.g., Breakfast at SCCY learning series session). 
Timeline & Budget 
We plan to begin recruitment for the SPYKids pilot in November 2022. Sessions will run 
from November 2022 until approximately February 2023 based on recruitment success. Data 
analyses and knowledge translation will occur soon thereafter. 

 
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In terms of our budget, we have $10, 500 for participant honorariums (up to 140 
participants, being paid up to $75 each). We also have $254 for printing, envelopes, and stamps. 
Other expenses (e.g., research assistant salaries, paid Zoom Healthcare account) are being paid 
through other grants and funding, such as the Graduate Enhancement of Tri-Agency Stipends 
Program. No other expenses are expected, as all other communication during the program will be 
via email. 
Implications 
SPYKids offers a unique opportunity for a brief early intervention in families of children 
with emergent NDDs. This is significant because it provides an immediate service up to 18 
months earlier in child development to (a) decrease the ultimate need for services by preventing 
severe mental health problems and (b) increase uptake and perceived effectiveness of subsequent 
NDD treatment. SPYKids has widespread impact potential for promoting child mental health 
through cost-effective programming designed to scale across contexts. These services are 
expected to be particularly important in the aftermath of COVID-19 in which lockdowns and 
reduced services have increase mental health problems in children with NDDs.32 Our work is 
closely aligned with calls from global leaders, including UNICEF and The World Health 
Organization, to address family distress to promote child health, as well as the Children’s First 
Canada’s 2020 report, which identifies child mental illness as the #2 threat to well-being.33 
 
 

 
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