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

Parent-Child Relations Clinical Trial

Official title:

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

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT05332236
• Other study ID #: E-K-Kom-Val
• Status: Completed
• Start date: May 20, 2022
• Est. completion date: August 31, 2023

Study information

• Verified date: June 2024
• Source: Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Observational

Clinical Trial Summary

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.

Description:

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 1111
• Est. completion date: August 31, 2023
• Est. primary completion date: July 31, 2023
• Accepts healthy volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers
• Gender: All
• Age group: 10 Years to 99 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Consent to participate

• Child age: 10-18 years.

Exclusion Criteria:

• None.

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Parent-Child Relations

Intervention

Diagnostic Test:
• Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale (questionnaire)
Observational psychometric validation study

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
Germany	University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf	Hamburg

Sponsors (1)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf

Country where clinical trial is conducted

Germany, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Parent-adolescent communication scale	20 item measure consisting of two subscales (open and problem communication), 5-point Likert scale; child and parent report	Baseline