Clinical trial NCT04980365: Psychology Mobile Apps for Parents in a Pandemic
Official title: Psychology Mobile Apps for Parents in a Pandemic
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Stress, Psychological
Keywords: Parental stress
Health Psychology
Mental health apps
Mindfulness
Gratitude
Lead sponsor: Sam Houston State University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-07-28
Enrollment: 224
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: FACTORIAL
Intervention model description: Potential participants will be provided access to an informed consent form and baseline survey via Qualtrics. After baseline is completed and eligibility confirmed, the study coordinator will randomly assign the participant to one of three app-based intervention conditions: Gratitude, Mindfulness, or control group. Next, the study coordinator will email them to schedule a Zoom meeting. The meeting will last 15 minutes and participants will be informed of what app they will use. After a 14-day period, the study coordinator will send participants a follow-up survey, and a final follow-up Qualtrics survey one month after the intervention ends. Participants will receive $5 for completing the baseline questionnaire, $5 for the immediate post-survey, and $10 for the one-month follow-up survey (participants can receive up to $20). Participants recruited via PeRP will receive one credit for completing the baseline questionnaire, two for the post-survey, and one for the follow-up.
Primary purpose: SUPPORTIVE_CARE

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to determine whether parents of young children (aged 10 and under) think it is feasible (in other words, doable) and acceptable (in other words, satisfactory) to use a mobile app designed to provide personalized education and enrichment for 10 minutes/day for 14 days. The investigators hope to learn if it is reasonable to ask parents to use one of three different apps and if parents are satisfied with their participation in the study. If so, the investigators can continue to study the effect of these apps on parents' stress in future research.

The investigators also plan to evaluate the effect of these app-based interventions in lowering levels of stress in parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. By conducting this study, the investigators hope to learn if there are specific app-based interventions that will lead to a reduction in stress in parents, improved parental life satisfaction, and improved parent-child interactions. If the results of this study suggest these apps may be promising at reducing stress among parents, the investigators will continue doing research on these app-based interventions.

Detailed description: Parents will be invited to participate in a research study to see what parents of young children (aged 10 and under) think of using one of three different mobile app-based interventions to improve parental life satisfaction. The study will be conducted by Dr. Chelsea Ratcliff and Dr. Hillary Langley, Assistant Professors of Psychology at Sam Houston State University. In addition to learning about parents' satisfaction with these app-based interventions, the investigators also plan to compare the effect of these app-based interventions on levels of parental stress, and on quality of parent-child interactions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The purpose of this research is to learn if it is reasonable to ask parents to use one of three different apps and if parents are satisfied with their participation in the study. If so, the investigators can continue to study the effect of these apps. The investigators also plan to evaluate the effect of these app-based interventions in lowering levels of stress in parents. By conducting this study, the investigators hope to learn if there are specific app-based interventions that will lead to a reduction in stress in parents, improved parental life satisfaction, and improved parent-child interactions.

In order to be eligible to participate, participants must be 18 years old or older, and a parent or primary caregiver of a child/children aged 10 years or young. Participants will first consent to participate by signing their name electronically using the mouse at the end of this consent form and providing their name and email address so the investigators can maintain contact. After reading this consent form and agreeing to it, participants will be directed to complete the first survey, which will take about 30 minutes to complete. They will be asked to complete two short questionnaires to determine their eligibility for the study. Participants will receive a $5 gift card for completing the first questionnaire.

After completing the pre-intervention survey, participants will be randomly assigned to use one of three psychology mobile apps. The study coordinator will email them to set up a 15-minute Zoom meeting in order to provide more information about the intervention and to help download the app that they were assigned. After the 14-day period, the study coordinator will email participants a link to a 20-minute follow-up survey, and they will receive a $5 gift card for completing this survey. One month later, the study coordinator will email participants a link to the final follow-up survey, and you will receive a $10 gift card for completing this survey. Thus, participants can earn up to $20 in Amazon gift cards for participating in this study ($5 for the pre-intervention survey, $5 for the immediate post-intervention survey, and $10 for the one-month post-intervention survey).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. Only individuals aged 18 and older will be allowed to participate in the current research (assessed by participant self-report).
2. Individuals must identify oneself as a parent or primary caregiver of a child/children aged 10 or under (assessed by participant self-report).
3. Participants who score 30 or higher in the Parent Stress Scale (PSS) measure.
4. Participants who reside in the U.S. and can understand and answer surveys in English.

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Individuals under 18
2. Non-English-speaking individuals
3. Individuals who do not consent to the survey.
4. Individuals who do not identify oneself as a parent or primary caregiver of a child/children under the age of 10 (assessed by participant self-report).
5. Individuals who score 30 or lower in the PSS measure.
6. Individuals who do not reside in the U.S.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Parental Stress Scale Total Score
timeFrame: T1 (before intervention); T2 (immediately after intervention); T3 (1-month after intervention)
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Five Facet Questionnaire: Short Form Total Score
timeFrame: T1 (before intervention); T2 (immediately after intervention); T3 (1-month after intervention)
measure: Gratitude Questionnaire-6 Total Score
timeFrame: T1 (before intervention); T2 (immediately after intervention); T3 (1-month after intervention)
measure: Gratitude Resentment and Appreciation Test-Revised Short Form Total Score
timeFrame: T1 (before intervention); T2 (immediately after intervention); T3 (1-month after intervention)
measure: Dyadic Adjustment Scale Total Score
timeFrame: T1 (before intervention); T2 (immediately after intervention); T3 (1-month after intervention)
measure: Positive & Negative Affect Scores
timeFrame: T1 (before intervention); T2 (immediately after intervention); T3 (1-month after intervention)
measure: Child-Parent Relationship Scale Closeness & Conflict Scores
timeFrame: T1 (before intervention); T2 (immediately after intervention); T3 (1-month after intervention)
measure: Perceived Stress Scale Total Score
timeFrame: T1 (before intervention); T2 (immediately after intervention); T3 (1-month after intervention)
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Huntsville
country: United States
facility: Sam Houston State University
state: Texas
Study officials:
affiliation: Sam Houston State University
name: Chelsea G Ratcliff, Ph.D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: