Mindful Parenting for Parents With SEN Adolescents
NCT Number: NCT06522243
Status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
Phases: NA
Conditions: Expressed Emotion|Stress|Well-Being, Psychological
Interventions: BEHAVIORAL: 8-week mindful parenting program
Sponsor: The University of Hong Kong
Sex: ALL
Age: ADULT, OLDER_ADULT
Enrollment: 120
Study Design: Allocation: RANDOMIZED|Intervention Model: PARALLEL|Masking: NONE|Primary Purpose: TREATMENT
Start Date: 2024-07-22
Completion Date: 2027-08-31

Summary:
The goal of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an online eight-week mindful parenting program for parents of adolescents with special needs and its impact on parents' wellbeing and behaviors of their adolescents with SEN(s).

Researchers will randomize the participants into the immediate intervention group (to start the intervention soon after recruitment) and the waitlist control group (to start the intervention after the immediate intervention group) so as to compare the changes between the two groups.

The participants will join the 8-week mindful parenting intervention and one follow-up session. They will be asked to fill in the questionnaires at baseline, after the 8-week intervention, and at the follow-up sessions. Training sessions will be audio-taped and transcripted. The conversation during the zoom classes and participants' sharing on their subjective experience related to mindfulness practices will be analysed.

Primary Outcome Measures: Emotional Disturbances, Emotional disturbances was measured using Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale - 21 items (DASS-21) is a set of three self-report scales designed to measure the emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. A total score is adopted to indicate the level of emotional disturbances with a higher score implying a worse outcome (minimum value =0; maximum value = 63)., 16 weeks|Wellbeing Literacy, Wellbeing literacy measured using the Well-being Literacy Scale to assess the participants' capability to comprehend and communicate wellbeing. A total score was calculated to indicate level of wellbeing language use, with a higher score implying better outcome (minimum value=6; maximum value = 42)., 16 weeks|Mindfulness in Parenting, The 31-item Chinese version of the Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale (IM-P) will be used to evaluate parents' mindfulness on four aspects, including compassion for the child, nonjudgmental acceptance in parenting, emotional awareness, and listening with full attention. A total sum will be calculated to indicate mindfulness in parenting with a higher score implying better outcome (minimum value=31; maximum value=155)., 16 weeks|Parents' Expressed Emotion, Family Questionnaire (FQ) is used to evaluate the parents' level of expressed emotion, including criticism and over-involvement. FQ is a 20-item parent self-rated questionnaire with four possible answers ranging from "never/very rarely" to "very often." A total score will be calculated with a higher score indicating a a higher level of expressed emotion (minimum value=20; maximum value=80)., 16 weeks|Children's behaviors, The 25-item Chinese version of the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) will be used to assess the externalising and internalising problems of adolescents. It comprises five subscales, ranging from emotional problems, conduct problems, hyperactivity, peer problems and prosocial behaviours in adolescents. Each item is rated on a Likert scale from 0 (not true) to 2 (certainly true). A total difficulties score will be calculated with a higher score implying more difficult behaviors by summing scores from all the items except the prosocial scale (minimum value=0; maximum value=40)., 16 weeks
Secondary Outcome Measures: General Mindfulness Awareness, To assess the general mindfulness awareness in parents, the short 15-item version of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire (FFMQ-15) will be used. A total sum will be calculated to indicate trait mindfulness with a higher score implying better outcome (minimum value=15; maximum value=75)., 16 weeks|Decentering, Decentering is measured using the Experiences Questionnaire, an 11-item self-report scale that assesses the construct of decentering or disidentification with content of negative thinking. A total sum will be calculated to indicate level of decentering with a higher score implying better outcome (minimum value=5; maximum value=55)., 16 weeks|Parenting Skills, Alabama Parenting Questionnaire-short version is a 9-item self-rated questionnaire used to measures three factors in parenting: positive parenting, inconsistent discipline and poor supervision. Items are scored from 1 (never) to 5 (always). A higher score in subscale of positive parenting (minimum value=3; maximum value=15) indicates a better outcome while a higher score in subscales of inconsistent discipline and poor supervision (minimum value=3; maximum value=15) indicate worse outcomes., 16 weeks
Other Outcome Measures: Subjective experiences with mindful parenting, Training sessions will be audio-taped and transcripted. The conversation during the zoom classes and participants' sharing on their subjective experience related to mindfulness practices will be analysed., 16 weeks