RECRUITINGINTERVENTIONAL

FAB Programme for Parents of Children With NDD

Facilitator-guided Acceptance and Commitment Bibliotherapy for Parents of Young Children With Neurodevelopmental Disorders: A Randomised Controlled Trial

About This Trial

The study aims to examine the effectiveness of a psychotherapy approach called Facilitator-guided Acceptance and Commitment Bibliotherapy (FAB) in improving the psychological health of parents of young children with neurodevelopmental disorders (NDD) and reducing the emotional and behavioral symptoms of NDD children. The study will involve 154 Cantonese-speaking parents of children aged 2-6 years diagnosed with NDD in Hong Kong. The study hopes to find that FAB can improve parent-child dyads' health outcomes by enhancing psychological flexibility, parental psychological health, and mindful parenting skills.

Who May Be Eligible (Plain English)

Parents of young children with NDD who fulfil the following criteria will be recruited: - Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents, - aged ≥ 21 years, - have a child aged between two and six years old (preschool age) with a clinically documented diagnosis/suspected NDD diagnosis according to DSM-5 criteria (e.g., ASD, ADHD, developmental delay) and enrolled in the SWD subvented pre-school rehabilitation services offered by NGOs, - caregivers who adopted the responsibility of taking care of the child, living together with the child, and - have device(s) with internet access. Parents of young children with NDD will be excluded if: - has been diagnosed with severe mental illness(es), - cognitive/language/communication/visual/hearing impairment(s) or disorders that may present difficulties in comprehending the content of the intervention; and/or - are currently receiving another psychosocial, psychoeducational, or parenting intervention(s). Always talk to your doctor about whether this trial is right for you.

Original Eligibility Criteria

View original clinical language

Parents of young children with NDD who fulfil the following criteria will be recruited: * Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents, * aged ≥ 21 years, * have a child aged between two and six years old (preschool age) with a clinically documented diagnosis/suspected NDD diagnosis according to DSM-5 criteria (e.g., ASD, ADHD, developmental delay) and enrolled in the SWD subvented pre-school rehabilitation services offered by NGOs, * caregivers who adopted the responsibility of taking care of the child, living together with the child, and * have device(s) with internet access. Parents of young children with NDD will be excluded if: * has been diagnosed with severe mental illness(es), * cognitive/language/communication/visual/hearing impairment(s) or disorders that may present difficulties in comprehending the content of the intervention; and/or * are currently receiving another psychosocial, psychoeducational, or parenting intervention(s).

Treatments Being Tested

BEHAVIORAL

Facilitator-guided Acceptance and Commitment Bibliotherapy (FAB)

The Facilitator-guided Acceptance and Commitment Bibliotherapy (FAB) is a 12-week self-help parenting program that integrates Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) principles with web-based modules and group-based sessions. The program includes a self-help workbook/manual and ACT protocols that cover various self-help exercises such as guided imagery, grounding, mindfulness, and values clarifications. To make the programme more relatable to Hong Kong parents caring for children with NDD, storytelling vignettes and therapeutic narratives will be included. Parents will work on each module at their own pace within 2-3 weeks and meet with trained facilitators in a video-conferencing format after completing each module to review their progress and learn positive parenting techniques.

BEHAVIORAL

General Parenting Education and Advice

Both the FAB group and the Control Group will receive routine family support services from collaborating NGOs, including education on managing the emotional and behavioral symptoms of children with NDD. To control for the interaction/social effect present in the FAB group, the Control Group will also receive four video-conferencing sessions guided by a trained research assistant over 12 weeks. These sessions will facilitate parents to discuss their parenting challenges, identify parenting traps, and provide general parenting advice as recommended by the Child Assessment Services, Department of Health under the HKSAR government.

Locations (2)

Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Limited

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Shatin, Hong Kong