Strong Families Strong Forces: Supporting Active Duty Families With Very Young Children

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this research is to evaluate the efficacy of the Strong Families Strong Forces Parenting Program compared to a parental self-care (Strong Parents) condition in a sample of 150 Active Duty Families with children ages birth to 5 years.

Detailed Description
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The overall aim of this research is to adapt and evaluate the efficacy of a parenting program compared to a parental self-care program for Active Duty families. A sample of 150 Active Duty families with young children who have a parent scheduled to deploy in the next six months will be recruited to participate. Families will be assigned either to receive the Strong Families Strong Forces Parenting Program, designed to reduce the impact of deployment separation on parenting stress and co-parenting, or to the Strong Parents Self-Care program, designed to support parents to focus on the importance of self-care throughout the deployment cycle. Investigators will compare the two groups on parenting stress, quality of parent-child relationships, parenting/co-parenting, and family and child well-being.

Official Title
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Supporting Military Families With Young Children Throughout the Deployment Lifecycle

Conditions
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Deployment

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Strong Families Strong Forces
* Behavioral: Strong Parents


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Cohabitating couple with at least one child age birth to 5 years old in which one parent is active duty and is scheduled to deploy within the next 6 months Anticipated deployment time must be at least six months and excludes separations due to the Service Member attending a school Anticipate that non-deploying parent will remain in the area during the deployment Both parents are willing to consent to study participation DEERS -eligible 18 years or older English-speaking The parent remaining at home to care for the children anticipates remaining within 30 miles of Fort Hood to be seen in home, otherwise will need to be seen in office Anticipate that both parents will remain in the area for at least three months after redeployment to complete intervention and follow-up assessment Exclusion Criteria: Any family member with a significant medical or psychiatric condition requiring a higher level of care than can be provided by the study/comparison protocols Active psychosis or mania

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Strong Families<br>parenting program | Behavioral: Strong Families Strong Forces<br>* Parenting program<br>|
| Active Comparator: Strong Parents<br>self-care program | Behavioral: Strong Parents<br>* self-care program<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Parenting Stress Index (PSI) | Assesses parenting stress in three domains: parental distress, parent-child dysfunctional interaction, and difficult child. | Change from baseline to 24 months | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Coparenting Scale | Assesses parents' perception of their own coparenting behavior. | Change from baseline to 24 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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deployment cycle, military family, prevention, stress, military child, parenting, coparenting