Parent-Child Relationship

The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a family-based treatment called Parenting-STAIR-Modular (PSTAIR-M) can help military parents recover from trauma, strengthen emotion regulation skills, and improve parent-child relationships. Participants will be trauma-exposed active-duty Service Members (SM) or their spouses who screen positive for PSTD and/or depression, and one identified child (ages 2-10). The main questions it aims to answer are: 1) Does PSTAIR-M reduce parental PTSD and depression symptoms, lower parenting stress, and improve child behavior compared to treatment-as-usual?; and 2) Is PSTAIR-M feasible and acceptable when delivered to military families stationed overseas? Researchers will compare PSTAIR-M to treatment-as-usual (TAU) to see if PSTAIR-M leads to greater improvements in parental PTSD, depression, parenting stress, emotion regulation, child maltreatment risk, and child behavior than usual care. Participants will: 1) attend 12-16 weekly, 1-hour online treatment sessions with their assigned clinicians, 2) complete three 1-hour online assessments administered by research staff, 3) engage with their child in three 15-30-minute online, observed play sessions, 4) have assessments and observed play sessions audio and video recorded.

Families of children with neurodevelopmental differences (NDDs) experience disproportionately high levels of parenting stress and mental health difficulties, including elevated depression, anxiety, and caregiver burden. These challenges are often compounded by increased caregiving demands, system navigation stress, and limited access to timely, tailored mental health supports. Parental mental health plays a critical role in family functioning and child outcomes; however, existing services for families of children with NDDs are frequently fragmented, inaccessible, or focused primarily on child behavior rather than caregiver well-being. As a result, many caregivers experience unmet mental health needs that persist throughout early and middle childhood. To address this gap, our team developed BEAM (Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health), an app-based parenting and mental health intervention that integrates psychoeducation, peer support, progress monitoring, and coached support. Clinical trials evaluating BEAM with parents of young children have demonstrated promising improvements in parental depression, anxiety, and parenting stress, as well as reductions in harsh parenting practices. Building on this evidence base, the current trial examines the implementation and outcomes of BEAM delivered as-is to families of children with NDDs (BEAM-NDD), without content adaptation, to evaluate its feasibility and effectiveness within this high-need population. This trial uses a single-arm pre-post design to evaluate BEAM-NDD among parents and caregivers of children with diagnosed or suspected neurodevelopmental differences. Primary aims are to (1) assess feasibility and acceptability of BEAM-NDD, including recruitment, retention, engagement, satisfaction, and perceived unmet needs; (2) examine changes in caregiver mental health and parenting outcomes following program participation; and (3) explore individual differences in engagement and outcomes to identify for whom BEAM-NDD may be more or less effective. Participants will complete a 12-week intervention delivered through the BEAM app, consisting of weekly parenting and mental health videos, progress tracking, a moderated peer forum, and optional peer-coaching support. Assessments will be completed at baseline prior to program initiation (T1), immediately post-intervention (T2), and at follow-up (T3). By evaluating BEAM-NDD within real-world service contexts, this trial aims to determine whether an existing evidence-based digital parenting and mental health intervention can support caregiver well-being among families of children with NDDs without requiring adaptation. Findings will inform the scalability and sustainability of BEAM-NDD as an accessible mental health support for families facing long waitlists, limited specialized services, or geographic barriers to care.

The investigators are testing whether different communication methods including use of technology can affect relationship satisfaction and well-being in a parent-child relationship. We believe that those who regularly use a chatbot with communication will improve relationship satisfaction in their familial relationship.

This pilot study aims to investigate the effects of a four-week online feeding awareness training program for fathers of typically developing children aged 3-6 years. The study will examine changes in fathers' parental self-efficacy and feeding attitudes, as well as their children's eating and mealtime behaviors. The main research question is whether an online awareness training program for fathers can improve parental self-efficacy and feeding attitudes and contribute to positive changes in children's eating behaviors. Outcomes will be assessed at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and at a four-week follow-up.

The LOVING study is a randomized controlled trial designed to determine whether adaptations to an internationally recognized parenting program that enhances sensitive caregiving likewise improves sensitive caregiving in Singapore and, in turn, downstream child outcomes in emotional, behavioral, and cognitive development during the early childhood years. Research shows that sensitive caregiving is linked to secure relationships, decreased child mental health problems, better executive functioning, and potentially healthier body mass indices. The Video Feedback to Improve Positive Parenting and Sensitive Discipline (VIPP-SD) program is an internationally recognized home-based intervention designed to enhance sensitive caregiving. However, evidence demonstrating its efficacy in Asia remains extremely limited. Moreover, most previous evaluations have focused primarily on parenting or child mental health outcomes, with newer work only beginning to focus upon additional child outcomes. In this study, families with young children from median-income and below households living in Singapore will be randomly assigned to one of three groups. Some families will participate in a locally adapted version of the home-based VIPP-SD program that includes additional health-related scenarios (VIPP-SD-SingH). Other families will be assigned to CARE-SD, which was developed within the context of proof-of-concept research. CARE-SD is a standardized, digitally delivered parenting program using vicarious pre-rendered video examples and comments derived from the VIPP-SD program and does not include personalized feedback during home visits. Furthermore, CARE-SD includes health related scenarios and language and settings familiar to families living in Singapore. A third group will receive developmental information about children's learning and development (i.e., NeuroEducation Active Control). The programs are brief and are designed to be practical and accessible for families. Families participating in the study will take part in research visits that include questionnaires, observations of parent-child interaction, and activities designed to assess children's development. Laboratory visits will take place at IHDP (a collaborating institution) research facilities. Information collected in the study will help researchers better understand how parenting support programs influence children's emotional well-being, behavior, learning, and physical health. The results of this research may help inform the development of effective programs to support families and promote healthy child development.

The aim of this study is to conduct a multi-country randomized waitlist controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and scalability of the optimized Parenting for Lifelong Health (PLH) for Parents and Teens program in Moldova and North Macedonia. In Phase 2 of the FLOURISH project, a factorial trial tested multiple intervention components and identified the optimized intervention package. In Phase 3, this trial will assess the implementation, outcomes, and economic impact of the optimized PLH program delivered to adolescents aged 10-14 and their caregivers. ALTERNATIVA will deliver the program in North Macedonia and the Health for Youth Association in the Republic of Moldova.

The goal of this study is to learn if the New Beginnings Podcast can help children whose parents are going through a divorce or separation. The podcast shares parenting strategies that have been shown to help in past in-person and online programs. This study will also look at how easy it is for parents to use the podcast and how helpful they find it. The main questions it aims to answer are: 1. Do parents find the podcast easy to use, helpful, and relevant? 2. Does listening to the podcast improve children's mental health? 3. Does the podcast help parents build stronger relationships with their children and reduce conflict between parents? Researchers will compare families who use the podcast to families on a waitlist to see if the podcast makes a difference. Participants will: 1. Listen to podcast episodes over the course of the study 2. Answer questions about their experiences with the podcast 3. Complete surveys about their child's well-being, their parenting, and family relationships This study will include 80 parents and their children.

Background. Emerging adulthood is a period of major change in young people's lives, including increased independence, new responsibilities, and shifting relationships with parents or caregivers. During this time, disagreements between emerging adults and caregivers are common and may become more frequent or emotionally intense. How families manage these disagreements may affect relationship quality and emotional well-being for both emerging adults and caregivers. However, there are few brief, accessible programs designed to support emerging adults and caregivers together during this transition. Grow Together, Thrive Together (G2T2) is a brief, online, writing-based relationship program designed for emerging adults and their caregivers. The program encourages participants to reflect on disagreements using a neutral, outside-observer perspective, with the goal of helping families approach conflict in healthier ways. G2T2 is designed to be low-intensity, self-directed, and accessible, and can be completed remotely using secure online platforms. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of the G2T2 program and study procedures, rather than to test effectiveness. This feasibility clinical trial will examine whether emerging adult-caregiver dyads can be successfully recruited and retained, whether participants complete the writing sessions as planned, and whether participants find the program acceptable, easy to use, and understandable. The study will also explore whether participants report using the conflict reappraisal strategy outside of the writing sessions and examine changes in relationship and conflict-related outcomes before and after the program to inform future research. Participants will take part as emerging adult-caregiver pairs. Each participant will complete an online baseline survey, three brief online writing sessions completed over approximately nine weeks, and a follow-up survey one week after the final session. Each writing session includes brief questions about recent disagreements, a short instructional video, brief questions to check understanding of the strategy, and guided writing exercises focused on reflecting on disagreements and planning how to use the strategy in future interactions. All activities are completed independently and online. Findings from this study will be used to refine the G2T2 program and study procedures and to inform the design of a future, larger randomized controlled trial.

The goal of this clinical trial study is to learn how stress in childhood, or Early Life Adversity (ELA), gets "under the skin" and influences long-term health. The investigators will test if the support given to parents of young children reduces childhood stress. The investigators will also test if the effects of mother's stress and Early Life Adversity can be passed down to children. Can it impact the child's long-term health? Researchers will compare the Promoting First Relationships® in Primary Care (PFR in PC) parenting program with Usual Care to see if PFR reduces mothers' stress, improves mother's sensitivity, and reduces accelerated cellular aging. Participants will: * Be randomized to receive PFR in PC or Usual Care. PFR in PC is an evidence-based 10-week home visiting service, with 2 extra sessions at the WakeMed pediatric clinic. Usual Care is the health care and general services offered to families at the WakeMed pediatric clinic. * Have in-home research visits at the start of the study (Time 1, T1), about 6 months later (Time 2, T2), and 12 months later (Time 3, T3). Information collected at these visits includes: * Answering questions about your background, past and current stress, physical and mental health, parenting behaviors, and child behavior problems (T1, T2, T3). * Being videotaped doing a short teaching activity. * Having a small amount of blood collected from the mother by finger prick (T1, T3). * Having a small amount of blood collected from the infant by heel stick (T1, T3).

HmT/LmG is a group course for 4-6 parental dyads and consists of 4 group sessions with psycho-education and skills training and 3 individual sessions per family (i.e., 1 session with the adolescent, 1 session with the parents, and 1 session with parents and adolescent together). We want to evaluate effectiveness and treatment process mechanisms applying self-reports, audio observation and interviews.