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Completed

NCT Number: NCT05413577

Reducing Parental Stress Via Instant Messaging During COVID-19 Pandemic: A Randomized Controlled Trial

This research investigated the effects of mindfulness practice on mental wellbeing and parenting behaviour, with the instruction recordings delivered via existing instant messaging applications, including Whatsapp and Signal. The two-week mindfulness program targeted parents with children in Nursery, Kindergarten to Primary School. Due to the suspension of schools, work from home policies, parents spend increased amount of time with their children. News reports have indicated that with the mounting care taking responsibilities and downturn of economy amidst the epidemic, parents have been experiencing higher stress that may negatively impact their wellbeing and parent-child relationship. This study delivered an app-based intervention that aims at enhancing mindful parenting at the time of corona, where social distancing is emphasized.

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Key information

Conditions

Parents Parenting Stress

Age range

18 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Shatin, Hong Kong

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: No

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

Inclusion criteria

Parents with at least one child who is in Primary School or below.

Treatment and study plan

Mindfulness Training

Behavioral

The intervention recordings taught the basic concepts of mindfulness through simple guided meditations with content supported by science. Each recording had the same format that included (1) a daily theme, (2) a meditation exercise echoing the theme, (3) a suggested exercise for practice, and (4) an invitation for participants to give a short response to their meditation experience at the end of the recording.

Primary outcomes

  1. Parental Stress Scale

    Time frame: Change from Baseline Parental Stress Scale at immediately after the intervention and two weeks after intervention

    The Parental Stress Scale was used to measure self-perceived stress specific to the parenting role. Parental Stress Scale was originally developed by Berry and Jones (1995) to measure parental feelings and experiences in terms of rewards, satisfaction, controllability, and stress. The minimum score was 0 and the maximum score was 64. A score of 0 represents lowest level of parental stress possible, whereas a score of 64 represents highest level of parental stress. Higher scores indicate worse outcome.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Well-being WHO 5-item index

    Time frame: Change from Baseline Well-being WHO 5-item index at immediately after the intervention and two weeks after intervention

    Global mental well-being was measured using the Well-being WHO 5-item index (Topp et al., 2015).The minimum score was 0 and the maximum score was 25. A score of 0 represents worst possible, whereas a score of 25 represents best possible quality of life. Higher scores indicate better outcome.

  2. Mindfulness in Parenting Scale

    Time frame: Change from Baseline Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting scale at immediately after the intervention and two weeks after intervention

    The 31-item Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting scale was adopted to measure parents' self-reported engagement in mindful parenting (Duncan, 2007). The minimum score was 0 and the maximum score was 155. A score of 0 represents lowest level of parental mindfulness, whereas a score of 155 represents highest level of parental mindfulness possible. Higher scores indicate better outcome.

  3. Parent Behavior Inventory

    Time frame: Change from Baseline Parent Behavior Inventory at immediately after the intervention and two weeks after intervention

    The Parent Behavior Inventory was used to assess the change in parenting behavior before and after the intervention. The Parent Behavior Inventory has two independent scales, supportive/engaged and hostile/coercive parenting (Lovejoy et al., 1999), The minimum score was 0 and the maximum score for each scale was 50. A score of 0 represents lowest frequency of parenting behaviors on supportive/engaged and hostile/coercive parenting, whereas a score of 50 represents highest frequency of supportive/engaged and hostile/coercive parenting possible. Higher scores of supportive/engaged scale indicate better outcome. Lower scores of hostile/coercive scale indicate better outcome.

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Chinese University of Hong Kong

Other

Registry information

Important dates

Study start
2021
Primary completion
2022
Study completion
2022
First posted
Jun 10, 2022
Registry last updated
Nov 23, 2022

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

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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.

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