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Parent Encouragement And Coaching of Happiness in Youth

Maternal Positive Affect Socialization and Child Neural Reward Response

Who can join

As published by the study on ClinicalTrials.gov. "Not stated" means the study hasn't said — ask the study team.

Age
4 Years to 99 Years
Sex
All sexes
Healthy volunteers
Accepted
Compensation
Not stated

Other requirements are listed under Eligibility below. Only the study team can confirm whether you can join.

What to expect

No one can promise a trial will help you personally — that is what the research is trying to find out.

What participation involves

Not stated in the study description — ask the study team about visits and procedures.

Compensation
Not stated
  • Study-related exams and procedures are typically provided at no cost. This is how many trials work in general — confirm the details for this study with the study team.
  • Participants are monitored closely by the research team throughout the study.
  • Some participants may receive access to an investigational treatment, which is still being studied.
  • Your participation helps researchers learn whether this approach could help future patients.

About this study

In plain language

This study tests whether coaching parents to build a child's positive feelings changes how the child's brain responds to rewards. It is for birth mothers with high levels of depression and their children ages 4–6. Mothers and children are assigned by chance to either 3 parent-coaching sessions or 3 general parenting-support sessions.

The goal of this mechanistic clinical trial is to examine whether parent-coaching aimed at increasing child positive affect will increase child neural response to reward. The main questions it aims to answer are: Aim 1. Characterize child neural reward response and its relation to maternal socialization of positive emotions at baseline in healthy young children. Aim 2. Evaluate how coaching-related changes in maternal socialization of positive emotion expression contribute to increases in child neural reward response over time. Aim 3. Examine how maternal socialization of positive emotion expression contributes to increases in child neural reward response in the moment. Participating mother-child dyads will be randomized to either 3 sessions of parent coaching of child positive affect or 3 sessions of a general parenting support intervention and neural response to reward and affective behavior will be examined pre and post intervention.

Compensation is read from the study's own description and may be missing — always confirm with the study team.

Eligibility

Who can join

  • Mother: Is the child's birth mother (biologically female, of any gender).
  • Mother: Cares for the child at least half of the time.
  • Mother: Has a score of 16 or higher on the CES-D, a survey that measures signs of depression.
  • Mother: Is age 18 or older.
  • Child: Is age 4–6.

Who can't join

  • Mother: Has ever had bipolar disorder, which causes major shifts in mood and energy.
  • Mother: Has ever had a psychotic disorder, which can make it hard to know what is real.
  • Child: Has a T-score above 63 for emotional or outward behavior problems on the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL).
  • Child: Has ever had a mental health illness.
  • Child: Has ever had a neurodevelopmental disorder, which affects how the brain grows and develops.
  • Child: Has ever had a neurological disorder, which affects the brain, spinal cord, or nerves.

Simplified for readability. The official criteria below are what the study team uses.

Official eligibility criteria

Inclusion Criteria for Mothers: * Birth mother (biologically female, any gender) * Providing regular care for participating child (i.e., at least 50% of time) * Elevated, clinically significant levels of depression (16 or higher on CES-D) * Aged 18+ Exclusion Criteria for Mothers: * Lifetime history of a bipolar disorder * Lifetime history of a psychotic disorder Inclusion Criteria for Participating Child: -Aged 4-6 years Exclusion Criteria for Participating Child: * T-score greater than 63 on the internalizing or externalizing composites of the CBCL * Lifetime history of a psychiatric illness * Lifetime history of neurodevelopmental disorder * Lifetime history of neurological disorder

Study sites (1)

PA