Clinical trial NCT05151900: Implementing Virtual Parent Support Groups for Eating Disorders Across Canada
Official title: Understanding and Mitigating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Children, Youth, and Families Living With an Eating Disorder: A National Implementation Study of a Virtual Parent-Led Peer Support Intervention
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: NA
Conditions: Eating Disorders
Keywords: eating disorder
parent support group
COVID-19
Lead sponsor: McMaster University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-12-09
Enrollment: 115
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 12
Maximum age (years): 100
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: NA
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Brief summary: During the COVID-19 pandemic, Canada has experienced a surge in new pediatric eating disorder cases and hospitalizations and long treatment waitlists, with parents experiencing anxiety due to a lack of support. As it has not been rigorously studied, there is an urgent need to understand and mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children, youth, and families living with eating disorders across Canada. The investigator's proposed research has two goals. First, the investigators plan to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic faced by this population throughout the country, as well as describe stakeholder views on virtual parent-led peer support groups. Given the increased burden faced by parents of children with eating disorders during the COVID-19 pandemic, the second goal is to study whether the national implementation of virtual parent-led peer support groups helps to mitigate the impact of the pandemic among affected parents. The investigators will use qualitative semi-structured interviews to gather an understanding of the impact of the pandemic on relevant stakeholders across the country. At the same time, the investigators will evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the implementation of virtual parent-led peer support groups in several regions of Canada by examining parent and parent peer support provider experiences.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Have the capacity to write, speak and understand English
* Have access to a computer and internet
* Among parents enrolled in the virtual parent-led peer support groups, they must have a child or adolescent (\<18 years of age) diagnosed with an eating disorder
* Among youth and parents of youth with an eating disorder in the qualitative interviews component of the study, they/their child must either be on a waiting list for eating disorder treatment, actively in treatment, or post-treatment; the youth must be \<18 years of age and the parent must have a child \<18 years of age
* Among clinician/administrators in the qualitative interviews component of the study, they must work within pediatric eating disorder programs or lifespan eating disorder programs.

Exclusion Criteria:

* No lived or professional experience in the field of eating disorders
* Don't have the capacity to write, speak and understand English
* Don't have access to the internet/computer

Primary outcomes:
measure: Parent, youth, clinician, and administrator perspectives on and experiences with the COVID-19 pandemic and children, youth, and families with eating disorders
timeFrame: Baseline to 6 months later
measure: Parent, youth, clinician, and administrator perspectives on virtual parent-led peer support groups to help mitigate the negative effects of COVID-19 on children, youth, and families with eating disorders across Canada
timeFrame: Baseline to 6 months later
measure: Parent, youth, clinician, and administrator perspectives on factors important for implementing and sustaining virtual parent-led peer support groups
timeFrame: Baseline to 6 months later
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in number of parents who remain in the support group (Retention Rate)
timeFrame: Baseline and 3 months later
measure: Number of support groups each parent attends (Attendance Rate)
timeFrame: 3 months after baseline
measure: Change in self-reported parental burden
timeFrame: Baseline and 3 months later
measure: Change in self-reported needs as a parent of a child with an eating disorder
timeFrame: Baseline and 3 months later
measure: Change in self-reported parental self efficacy and collaboration
timeFrame: Baseline and 3 months later
measure: Parent Peer Support Providers' Change in Readiness
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months later
measure: Parent Peer Support Providers' Change in Attitudes about Evidence Based Practice
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months later
measure: Parent Peer Support Providers' Change in Confidence related to the Intervention
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months later
measure: Parent Peer Support Providers' Self-Reported Fidelity to Peer Support
timeFrame: Baseline and 6 months later
Other outcomes:
measure: Parent participant experiences
timeFrame: After 3 months in groups
measure: Parent Peer Support Provider experiences
timeFrame: After 6 months leading groups
Locations:
city: Calgary
country: Canada
facility: University of Calgary
state: Alberta
city: Halifax
country: Canada
facility: IWK Health Centre
state: Nova Scotia
city: Hamilton
country: Canada
facility: McMaster University
state: Ontario
Study officials:
affiliation: McMaster University
name: Jennifer Couturier, MD MSc
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: