Parents as Partners: Effectiveness of the Program in a Portuguese Sample
NCT Number: NCT06483841
Status: RECRUITING
Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
Phases: NA
Conditions: Healthy
Interventions: BEHAVIORAL: Parents as Partners
Sponsor: Universidade do Porto
Collaborators: Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT)
Sex: ALL
Age: ADULT, OLDER_ADULT
Enrollment: 100
Study Design: Allocation: RANDOMIZED|Intervention Model: PARALLEL|Masking: SINGLE (OUTCOMES_ASSESSOR)|Primary Purpose: PREVENTION
Start Date: 2024-02-20
Completion Date: 2026-03
Locations: Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences of the University of Porto, Porto, 4200-135, Portugal

Summary:
This study aims to assess the effectiveness of the "Parents as Partners" program (also named "Supporting Father Involvement"; Cowan et al., 2009) in a sample of Portuguese couples going through the transition to parenthood, i.e., with one child up to the age of 3 years old. The program aims to strengthen the coparenting relationship and consists of 2-hour 8 weekly group sessions attended by couples. Using a mixed-method approach, the researchers will conduct a randomized clinical trial aiming to assess the effectiveness of the intervention on primary and secondary outcomes. Lastly, participants' perceptions of the intervention usefulness will be assessed by conducting interviews with couples who participated in the intervention group (Parents as Partners).

Primary Outcome Measures: Child-Parent Relationship, Child-Parent Relationship Scale - Short Form: Scale ranges from 1 (definitely does not apply) to 5 (definitively applies); Measures two dimensions: Conflict and Closeness, Change from baseline (pre-test) to follow-up (6 months after the end of the program implementation).|Coparenting Relationship, Coparenting Relationship Scale: Scale ranges from 0 (not true about us) to 6 (very much true about us); Measures seven dimensions: Coparenting agreement, closeness, exposure to conflict, coparenting support, undermining, endorsement of partner parenting and division of labor., Change from baseline (pre-test) to follow-up (6 months after the end of the program implementation).
Secondary Outcome Measures: Parental Stress, Parental Stress Scale: Scale ranges from 1 (totally disagree) to 5 (totally agree); Measures four dimensions: Parental rewards, parental stressors, lack of control and parental satisfaction., Change from baseline (pre-test) to follow-up (6 months after the end of the program implementation).|Parenting Efficacy, Parenting Sense of Competence Scale: Scale ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 6 (strongly agree); Measures two dimensions: satisfaction and parenting effectiveness, Change from baseline (pre-test) to follow-up (6 months after the end of the program implementation).|Family-Work Conflict, Work-Family Conflict Scale: Scale ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), Change from baseline (pre-test) to follow-up (6 months after the end of the program implementation).|Family-Work Enrichment, Work-Family Enrichment Scale: Scale ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree), Change from baseline (pre-test) to follow-up (6 months after the end of the program implementation).|Quality of the Couple Relationship, Quality of Marriage Index: Scale ranges from 1 (very strongly disagree) to 7 (very strongly agree), Change from baseline (pre-test) to follow-up (6 months after the end of the program implementation).|Partner Responsiveness, Responsiveness Scale: Scale ranges from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), Change from baseline (pre-test) to follow-up (6 months after the end of the program implementation).|Child's Social and Emotional Development, Brief Infant-Toddler Social and Emotional Assessment: Scale ranges from 1 (nothing like him/her) to 5 (exactly like him/her), Change from baseline (pre-test) to follow-up (6 months after the end of the program implementation).
Other Outcome Measures: Perceived usefulness of the program, Semi-structured interview with couples who participated in the IG, Post-test (immediately after the program)