Clinical trial NCT04445818: More Appreciation and Less Criticism Project
Official title: A Pilot Intervention Study to Increase Appreciation and Reduce Criticism Among Families in Hong Kong
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Parenting
Family Research
Family
Keywords: Parenting
Appreciation
Criticism
Fruit and Vegetable Consumption
Family
Lead sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Tung Wah Group of Hospitals
First posted: 2020-06-24
Enrollment: 803
Sex: ALL
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: This study is a cluster randomised controlled trial with three arms: more appreciation arm (MA), less criticism arm (LC), and more fruit and vegetable arm (FV).
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: The project "More Appreciation and Less Criticism Project" (MALC) is a collaboration between the Tung Wah Group of Hospitals (TWGHs) and the School of Public Health of The University of Hong Kong (HKUSPH), funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. The objectives are to develop and test theory-driven group programmes to increase parents' intention and actual behaviours to express more appreciation or less criticism when interacting with their children, thereby enhancing family harmony and happiness.

Detailed description: This study is a cluster randomized controlled trial (RCT) with three arms: More Appreciation (MA), Less Criticism and Fruit and Vegetable (FV) group. Clusters, mostly schools, are the unit of random allocation to one of the three arms. Participants from all three arms will be assessed a total of four times, i.e. baseline (before the intervention workshop; (T1), immediate post-workshop (T2), 2-week post-workshop (T3) and 6-week post-workshop (T4).

"Fruit and vegetable consumption" is a subsidiary study to the More Appreciation and Less Criticism (MALC) Project. The study will take advantage of the cluster RCT design adopted by the MALC study, and aims at testing the active HAPA-based intervention (increasing fruit and vegetable intervention) delivered to the MALC control group. The fruit and vegetable group will serve as the intervention arm, and the groups that received interventions regarding increasing appreciation or decreasing criticism, served as the control arms.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Parents who are Cantonese-speaking, able to complete study questionnaire, and who have children attending p.4 to p.6 will be included.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Parents with active psychiatric problems, suicidal ideations, personality disorders, emotional problems, and mental retardartion will be excluded from the study.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Changes from baseline self-reported appreciation behaviours at follow-ups
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), 2-week post-workshop (T3) and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
measure: Changes from baseline self-reported criticism behaviours at follow-ups
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), 2-week post-workshop (T3) and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
measure: Changes from baseline self-reported fruit and vegetable intake behaviours at follow-ups
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), 2-week post-workshop (T3) and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Changes from baseline outcome expectancies of more appreciation at post-workshop
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), and T2 (immediately after the workshop).
measure: Changes from baseline outcome expectancies of less criticism at post-workshop
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), and T2 (immediately after the workshop).
measure: Changes from baseline outcome expectancies of fruit and vegetable intake at post-workshop
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), and T2 (immediately after the workshop).
measure: Changes from baseline intention to express more appreciation at post-workshop and 2-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), and 2-week post-workshop (T3).
measure: Changes from baseline intention to criticize less at post-workshop and 2-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), and 2-week post-workshop (T3).
measure: Changes from baseline intention of more fruit and vegetable intake at post-workshop and 2-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), and 2-week post-workshop (T3).
measure: Changes from baseline self-efficacy of more appreciation at post-workshop and 2-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), and 2-week post-workshop (T3).
measure: Changes from baseline self-efficacy of less criticism at post-workshop and 2-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), and 2-week post-workshop (T3).
measure: Changes from baseline self-efficacy of more fruit and vegetable intake at post-workshop and 2-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), and 2-week post-workshop (T3).
measure: Changes from baseline action planning of more appreciation at post-workshop, 2-week and 6-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), 2-week post-workshop (T3), and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
measure: Changes from baseline action planning of less criticism at post-workshop, 2-week and 6-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), 2-week post-workshop (T3), and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
measure: Changes from baseline action planning of more fruit and vegetable intake at post-workshop, 2-week and 6-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), 2-week post-workshop (T3), and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
measure: Changes from baseline coping planning of more appreciation at post-workshop, 2-week and 6-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), 2-week post-workshop (T3), and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
measure: Changes from baseline coping planning of less criticism at post-workshop, 2-week and 6-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), 2-week post-workshop (T3), and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
measure: Changes from baseline coping planning of more fruit and vegetable intake at post-workshop, 2-week and 6-week
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), T2 (immediately after the workshop), 2-week post-workshop (T3), and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
measure: Changes from baseline family well-being
timeFrame: Baseline (before the workshop, T1), 2-week post-workshop (T3) and 6-week post-workshop (T4).
Other outcomes:
Locations:
Study officials:
affiliation: The University of Hong Kong
name: Samantha Fung, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Fung SSW, Lam TH, Sun Y, Man PKW, Ip JCM, Wan ANT, Stewart S, Ho SY. A cluster randomized controlled trial of more appreciation and less criticism in Hong Kong parents. J Fam Psychol. 2020 Sep;34(6):731-739. doi: 10.1037/fam0000628. Epub 2020 Jan 16.