Executive Function and Parenting in Childhood

Launched by UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · Jan 26, 2024

Keywords

ClinConnect Summary

This clinical trial, titled "Executive Function and Parenting in Childhood," is studying how a parenting program can help improve certain mental skills in young children aged 4 to 5 years who show signs of difficulties in executive functioning. Executive functioning includes skills like paying attention, controlling impulses, and managing emotions. Researchers want to find out if participating in the Chicago Parent Program (CPP) can help these children do better in these areas, especially if they come from low-income families. The goal is to see if improvements in these skills can lead to less disruptive behaviors in children.

To be eligible for this trial, children need to be between 4 and 5 years old and must have moderate to severe challenges with executive functioning. Their parents must be their legal guardians and live with them full-time. Families should also be eligible for Medicaid, which means their income is within a certain limit. Participants can expect to be randomly assigned to either receive the CPP intervention or not, and the study aims to gather important information about how parenting techniques can make a difference in children's behavior and mental skills. This trial is crucial because it focuses on a cost-effective solution that could significantly impact families facing economic challenges.

Gender

ALL

Eligibility criteria

• Inclusion Criteria:
• • Children must be between the ages of 4 years old and 5 years, 11 months old
• • Parent must be the legal guardian of the target child and must live with the child full-time
• • Parents will be 18 years and older (no maximum age limit)
• • Only one child and one parent per family can participate in the study
• • Child is Medicaid eligible, defined as receiving Medicaid or eligible based on family income (up to 142 percent of the federal poverty level)
• • At enrollment the child will have moderate-to-severe (i.e., (sub)clinical) impairments in executive functioning as indicated by having a global executive composite standardized score greater than or equal to 60 on the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function-Preschool Version (BRIEF-P), which will be completed by parents at the initial screen
• • Given that some assessment materials are only validated in English, parents and children for this study will need to be English-speaking
• • Child does not have a prior or current diagnosis of a disruptive behavior disorder based on Diagnostic Statistical Manual, Fifth Edition (DSM-5) criteria
• • Child is not currently receiving mental health services
• • Child does not take medications to treat emotional or behavioral problems
• • Child does not have a medical condition, such as epilepsy, that would interfere with the completion of study tasks
• • Child is not actively suicidal
• • Child does not have a history of psychosis or currently psychotic
• • Parent does not have a medical condition that would interfere with the completion of the study
• • Parent does not have an intellectual disability that would interfere with their ability to complete the study
• • Parent does not have a severe mental illness, active suicidal ideation, or current alcohol/substance abuse/dependence that would interfere with their ability to participate in the study
• • Child can have a current or past histories of psychiatric disorders (anxiety, mood, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder)
• • Parent can have current or past history of psychiatric disorders
• • Parent can be taking medications to treat mental health problems
• Exclusion Criteria:
• • Child is not between the ages of 4-5 years old
• • The parent is not the legal guardian of the target child
• • The parent does not live with the child full-time
• • The parent is younger than 18 years old
• • Child is not receiving Medicaid or Medicaid eligible
• • Child does not have (sub)clinical impairments in executive functioning as indicated by having a global executive composite standardized score greater than or equal to 60 on the BRIEF
• • Child and parent are not English-Speaking
• • Child has a prior or current diagnosis of a disruptive behavior disorder based on DSM-5 criteria
• • Child is currently receiving mental health services
• • Child currently takes medications to treat emotional or behavioral problems
• • Child has a medical condition, such as epilepsy, that would interfere with the completion of study tasks
• • Child is actively suicidal
• • Child has a history of psychosis or is currently psychotic
• • Parent is not willing to be randomly assigned to receive the Chicago Parent Program intervention or to the control condition where they will not receive an intervention
• • Parent has a medical condition that would interfere with the completion of the study
• • Parent has an intellectual disability that would interfere with their ability to complete the study
• • Parent has a severe mental illness and/or active suicidal ideation