The Development and Evaluation of a Single Session Intervention for Parent Distress Tolerance

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to study different ways to help parents cope with strong emotions. The study team will be looking at how two different treatments help parents learn to manage strong emotions. These treatments are one session and are completed online, without a therapist, like an online training or class.

Official Title
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The Development and Evaluation of a Single Session Intervention for Parent Distress Tolerance

Conditions
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Parents, Mental Health Issue, Distress, Emotional

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Parents THRIVE
* Behavioral: Sharing Feelings Project


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Live in the United States. Parent of a child aged 6-17 years old who has received at least one counseling or mental health treatment session from a provider in the last 6 months will be eligible to participate. Parent is not currently receiving psychotherapy or counseling for a mental health concern (or received such in the past six months). Parent reported poor distress tolerance (DT). Poor DT will be defined as a score of less than 54 on the Distress Tolerance Scale. Due to language limitations of the primary researcher, parents will be eligible if they comfortably speak and read in English. Parents must have a mobile device (e.g., laptop, tablet, smart phone, etc.) or desktop computer and internet access sufficient for the delivery of the study assessments and intervention online. Exclusion Criteria: Failure to meet any of the inclusion criteria.

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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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

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


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Parents THRIVE Group<br>Participants in this group will receive the Parents THRIVE intervention. Participants will be in this group for up to two hours. | Behavioral: Parents THRIVE<br>* Parents THRIVE is a digital, one-time intervention that will give parents strategies to cope with their emotions and improve their distress tolerance. Parents will learn how to increase their emotion awareness to better tolerate strong emotions, such as anxiety, sadness, anger, and frustration.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Sharing Feelings Project Group<br>Participants in this group will receive the Sharing Feelings Group intervention. Participants will be in this group for up to two hours. | Behavioral: Sharing Feelings Project<br>* Sharing Feelings Project is a digital, one-time program that focuses on the benefit of sharing emotions with others and will be used as a control. Parents will read about how sharing their emotions can be helpful and anecdotes from others' experiences sharing emotions.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Distress Tolerance Scale scores | The Distress Tolerance Scale is a 15-item self-report measure that measures the perceived capacity to tolerate distress from a multidimensional framework, including tolerance, appraisal, absorption, and regulation. Items are rated on a 1-5 Likert scale and then summed. Scores range from 15-75. Higher total scores indicate greater ability to tolerate distress. | Baseline, up to three-week follow-up | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in Overall Anxiety Severity and Impairment Scale (OASIS) scores | Measures overall anxiety severity and anxiety-related impairment due to any anxiety disorder. Total scores are computed by summing scores from all 5 items. Total score ranges from 0 to 20, with higher scores indicating higher severity and impairment of anxiety symptoms. Reduction in OASIS scores therefore indicates better outcome. | Baseline, up to three-week follow-up | 
| Change in Overall Depression Severity and Impairment Scale (ODSIS) scores | Measures severity and frequency of depressive symptoms and functional deficits in pleasurable activities due to the depressive symptomatology. The ODSIS consists of 5 self-report items rated from 0 to 4. Total score ranges from 0 to 20 with higher scores indicating greater depression-related severity and impairment. | Baseline, up to three-week follow-up | 
| Change in Parental Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (PAAQ) scores | A 19-item measure of parent experiential avoidance, or parental actions intended to control the form and frequency of their child's emotional experiences. Items are rated on a 7-point scale, with higher possible scores ranging from 19 to 133. Higher scores indicate less parental experiential avoidance and less effort to control child emotional experiences. | Baseline, up to three-week follow-up |