Family Mediation Program For At-Risk Youth

Family Functioning Clinical Trial

Official title:

Family Mediation Program For At-Risk Youth

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01944748
• Other study ID #: R34DA031910
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: September 3, 2013
• Last updated: April 5, 2016
• Start date: July 2011
• Est. completion date: April 2016

Study information

• Verified date: April 2016
• Source: RAND
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Federal GovernmentUnited States: Data and Safety Monitoring BoardUnited States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

The goal of this project is to conduct a pilot evaluation of a parent-child mediation program for at-risk youth. It is investigating whether families who receive parent-child mediation show greater improvement in family functioning, as well as adolescent substance use, academic performance, and delinquency, over a 6-week and 12-week period compared to a wait-list control sample.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 111
• Est. completion date: April 2016
• Est. primary completion date: February 2015
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: 12 Years to 19 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Has a child referred to FARS due to having problems in any of the following areas:

(a) poor grades; (b) truancy; (c) defiant behavior; (d) running away; (e) delinquency; (f) substance use

2. Agrees to participate in at least one FARS mediation session

3. Agrees to complete 3 surveys and be available over the next 3 months for follow-up

4. Fluent in English or Spanish

Exclusion Criteria: Families referred to FARS due to: (a) conflicts involving gang violence (e.g., shootings, killings); (b) conflicts involving weapons; (c) arson; (d) conflicts involving explicit sex activities; (e) conflicts involving domestic violence/child abuse; and (f) threats to harm self or others.

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Endpoint Classification: Efficacy Study, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Prevention

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Family Functioning

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Families Able To Resolve Situations (FARS)
Family mediation is a method of resolving conflicts between parents and teens. During the mediation session, the parent and teen each meet one-on-one with a trained volunteer mediator, who is a neutral person who listens to each party's concerns without taking sides. Then the parent and teen come together and meet with this mediator to work on resolving conflicts they are having. Families participate in up to 3 mediation sessions.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Centinela Youth Services	Hawthorne	California

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
RAND

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Positive Family Relations	6-item Positive Family Relations measure adapted from the Cohesion subscale of Moos & Moos Family Environment Scale (Metzler et al., 1998; Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 600-619). Items are rated on a 5-point scale ("not at all" to "very much") and averaged to create a scale score.	6-week	No
Primary	Family Conflict	5-item measure from the Family, Friends and Self (FFS) assessment scales (Simpson & McBride, 1992; Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 14, 327-340). Items are rated on a 5-point scale ("never" to "almost always") and averaged to create a scale score.	6-week	No
Primary	Family Communication	10-item measure assessing open vs. problem communication (McCubbin, Thompson & McCubbin, 1996; Family assessment: Resiliency, coping and adaptation - Inventories for research and practice. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin). Items are rated on a 5-point scale ("never" to "almost always") and averaged to create a scale score.	6-week	No
Primary	Parent Support	4-item measure (Wills et al., 2004; Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 18, 122-134). Items are rated on a 5-point scale ("never" to "almost always") and averaged to create a scale score.	6-week	No
Primary	Positive Family Relations	6-item Positive Family Relations measure adapted from the Cohesion subscale of Moos & Moos Family Environment Scale (Metzler et al., 1998; Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 600-619). Items are rated on a 5-point scale ("not at all" to "very much") and averaged to create a scale score.	12-week	No
Primary	Family Conflict	5-item measure from the Family, Friends and Self (FFS) assessment scales (Simpson & McBride, 1992; Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 14, 327-340). Items are rated on a 5-point scale ("never" to "almost always") and averaged to create a scale score.	12-week	No
Primary	Family Communication	10-item measure assessing open vs. problem communication (McCubbin, Thompson & McCubbin, 1996; Family assessment: Resiliency, coping and adaptation - Inventories for research and practice. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin). Items are rated on a 5-point scale ("never" to "almost always") and averaged to create a scale score.	12-week	No
Primary	Parent Support	4-item measure (Wills et al., 2004; Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 18, 122-134). Items are rated on a 5-point scale ("never" to "almost always") and averaged to create a scale score.	12-week	No
Secondary	Lifetime and Past Month Substance Use	Number of times used in lifetime (range: "0 times" to "7 or more times") and number of days used in past month (range: "0 days" to "20-30-days") for each of the following substances: cigarettes; alcohol; marijuana; inhalants; any other illegal drug or pill to get high; over-the-counter medicines or OTCs to get high; and prescription medicines to get high.; Additional items ask about quantity of cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use on days used, as well as intentions to use each of these substances in next 6 months (4-point scale, ranging from "definitely yes" to "definitely no").	6-week	No
Secondary	Academic Performance	Items ask about typical grades in past month (range: "mostly A's" to "mostly F's"), school attachment (4-item measure from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), highest level of school the youth plans to finish (range: "I may not finish high school" to "I plan to go to graduate or professional school"), number of days skipped school in past month, and history of suspension from school.	6-week	No
Secondary	Delinquency	13-item measure that includes items from Project ALERT and National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Items are rated on a 7-point scale ("0 days" to "20-30 days").	6-weeks	No
Secondary	Lifetime and Past Month Substance Use	Number of times used in lifetime (range: "0 times" to "7 or more times") and number of days used in past month (range: "0 days" to "20-30-days") for each of the following substances: cigarettes; alcohol; marijuana; inhalants; any other illegal drug or pill to get high; over-the-counter medicines or OTCs to get high; and prescription medicines to get high.; Additional items ask about quantity of cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use on days used, as well as intentions to use each of these substances in next 6 months (4-point scale, ranging from "definitely yes" to "definitely no").	12-week	No
Secondary	Academic Performance	Items ask about typical grades in past month (range: "mostly A's" to "mostly F's"), school attachment (4-item measure from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), highest level of school the youth plans to finish (range: "I may not finish high school" to "I plan to go to graduate or professional school"), number of days skipped school in past month, and history of suspension from school.	12-week	No
Secondary	Delinquency	13-item measure that includes items from Project ALERT and National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Items are rated on a 7-point scale ("0 days" to "20-30 days").	12-weeks	No