Skip to main content
OpenTrials
Completed

NCT Number: NCT05332236

Parent-adolescent Communication: Validation of a German Language Scale and Its Longitudinal Association With Adolescent Mental Health

A German version of the Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS, Barnes & Olson, 1982) will be validated in a large sample of children (10-18 years) and their parents. As a secondary objective, the association of communication quality, children's somatic symptoms and mental health will be explored. After two years, participants from the community sample will be contacted again to see whether baseline communication quality predicts adolescent mental health two years later.

Completed

Looking for future studies?

Notify Me

Key information

Conditions

Parent-Child Relations

Age range

10 year–99 year

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Observational

Primary location

University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf

Hamburg, 20246, Germany

About this study

The quality of parent-child communication (pcc) is likely to be of importance for child mental health, especially during adolescence. Therefore, pcc is relevant in etiologic research, diagnostics, and as a possible target for intervention in at-risk and clinical populations.

Up to now, there is no validated questionnaire in German language to assess pcc as parent and child self-report. A German translation of the widely used Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (PACS, Barnes & Olson, 1982) will be validated in this study. This questionnaire comprises 20 items that are identical in parent and child versions apart from the referent (my mother/my father/my daughter/my son). In the original scale, two subscales were found via factor analysis: Open communication and problems in communication (ten items each). Internal consistency was adequate in most studies. Several studies have shown associations between pcc and child mental health.

In the current study, the primary aim is to validate the questionnaire in a community, an at-risk, and a clinical sample, with the at-risk sample comprising parent-child dyads with parents seeking parenting advice. The clinical sample will be recruited among in- and outpatients at the Clinic for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. Discriminative validity will be assessed in terms of group differences, construct validity in terms of correlations with different subscales on the parent-child relationship. With regard to the factorial structure, an exploratory factor analysis will be performed. As a secondary aim, the association between somatic symptoms, mental health, and pcc will be studied.

In the longitudinal part of the study, parent-child communication quality will be analysed as a predictor of mental health, especially depressive symptoms and somatic symptoms.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Consent to participate
  • Child age: 10-18 years.

Exclusion criteria

  • None.

Treatment and study plan

Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (questionnaire)

Diagnostic Test

Observational psychometric validation study

Primary outcomes

  1. Parent-adolescent communication scale

    Time frame: Baseline

    20 item measure consisting of two subscales (open and problem communication), 5-point Likert scale; child and parent report

  2. Change in general adolescent mental health

    Time frame: From baseline to 2 years after recruitment

    Changes in general adolescent mental health will be measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), total scale. The total scale consists of 20 items rated on a 3-step scale. Higher values indicate higher symptom burden.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Depressive symptoms two years after recruitment

    Time frame: Two years after initial recruitment.

    The Centre for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale for Children (DES-DC) measures depressive symptoms in adolescents using 20 items on a four-step Likert scale. Higher values indicate higher symptom burden. Instead of general cut-offs, standardized T-values accoring to gender groups above 60 can be considered as conspicuous (Barkmann et al. 2011).

  2. Change in somatic complaints

    Time frame: From baseline to two years after recruitment.

    The somatic complaints subscale of the Child Behavior Checklist/Youth Self Report questionnaire will be used to measure somatic complaints in adolescents. It consists of 7 items and is measured on a three-step Likert scale. Higher values indicate more and more frequent somatic complaints.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

Other

Registry information

Official study title

Validierung Eines Psychometrischen Fragebogens Zur Eltern-Kind-Kommunikation im Selbstbericht

Important dates

Study start
2022
Primary completion
2024
Study completion
2025
First posted
Apr 18, 2022
Registry last updated
Oct 2, 2025

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

Related clinical trials

Published trials that share one or more normalized conditions with this study.