Emotion Focused Family Therapy for Parents of Children With Mental Health Difficulties

What this study is about

Emotion Focused Family Therapy (EFFT) is a promising intervention that aims to teach parents advanced skills to support their child's development of emotion skills and increase their adaptive behaviours, potentially leading to improvements in their child's psychological functioning and family functioning more broadly. This randomized controlled trial (RCT; EFFT vs waitlist control) will (1) test the efficacy of a 6-week group EFFT program on parent and child outcomes and (2) examine maintenance of treatment gains up to four months post-intervention.

Who can join (things the study team will check)

✅ You may be able to join if…

• Parent of child aged 7 to 15 years old with anxiety, depression, or behavioural challenges
• Parent of child is willing to participate in intervention
• Parent is living at home with the child

🚫 You may not be able to join if…

• Parent or child not proficient enough in speaking/understanding English to complete measures or EFFT intervention components
• Parent or child with a severe mental health disorder (e.g., active suicidality and psychosis) is not considered suitable for the trial intervention due to the clinical need for immediate intervention
• Parent or child is actively receiving, or due to receive, intensive psychological intervention focused on cognitive and/or behavioural strategies to intervene with emotional or behavioural difficulties
• Parent or child has any disabilities in language, speech or hearing that would interfere with their completion of the EFFT and measures
• Parent or child are allergic to adhesive electrode gel use in some tasks (i.e., sodium chloride)

Where this trial is running

• Maplewoods Centre for Family Therapy and Child Psychology, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada

Who to contact

Kristel Thomassin, Ph.D · 519-824-4120 · kristel.thomassin@uoguelph.ca

It's completely normal to call and ask questions before deciding anything. Mention the study ID: NCT05603000.