RECRUITINGINTERVENTIONAL

Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health in Parenting (BEAM)

BEAM: Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health in Parenting. An App-based Intervention to Improve Parental Mental Health and Support Children's Brain Development.

About This Trial

Postpartum (child age 0-5 years) mental health problems are common, with prevalence rates ranging from 15-20% for depression, 3-43% for anxiety, and approximately 30% for anger. Depression, anxiety, and anger often occur comorbidly. If left untreated, these disorders can be long-lasting and lead to child behaviour problems, brain changes, and risk for later mental illness. We developed an app-based treatment for parental mental illness: Building Emotional Awareness and Mental Health in Parenting (BEAM). The BEAM program includes mental health and parenting videos, peer coaching, as well as a forum and drop-in Zoom sessions where parents can connect with each other to receive and provide social support. The program is supported by peer coaches (parents with lived experience of recovery from mental illness and who may have received emotion-focused parenting support) and supervised by clinically-trained staff. Peer coaches check-in with parents weekly to support their progress. Our study will see the BEAM app's effect on parent mental health, parenting stress, child behaviour, and child brain structure and function. 240 parents with high depression, anxiety, and/or anger symptoms will be recruited, with half forming the treatment-as-usual group.

Who May Be Eligible (Plain English)

Who May Qualify: - Parent is 18 years of age or older - Must have a child who is 3-4 years old - Must show clinically elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, \&/or anger - Living in the Vancouver or Calgary area - Parent is comfortable understanding, speaking, and reading English Who Should NOT Join This Trial: - Parent is under the age of 18 - Does not show clinically elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, and/or anger - History of attempted suicide or self-harm in the past 6 months - Does not live in the Vancouver or Calgary area - Child has serious genetic, neurological, or neurodevelopmental disorders that impact cognitive function or brain structure/function (e.g., Down Syndrome, epilepsy, etc.), or if they have contra-indications to MRI scanning (i.e., metal implants) Always talk to your doctor about whether this trial is right for you.

Original Eligibility Criteria

View original clinical language

Inclusion Criteria: * Parent is 18 years of age or older * Must have a child who is 3-4 years old * Must show clinically elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, \&/or anger * Living in the Vancouver or Calgary area * Parent is comfortable understanding, speaking, and reading English Exclusion Criteria: * Parent is under the age of 18 * Does not show clinically elevated symptoms of depression, anxiety, and/or anger * History of attempted suicide or self-harm in the past 6 months * Does not live in the Vancouver or Calgary area * Child has serious genetic, neurological, or neurodevelopmental disorders that impact cognitive function or brain structure/function (e.g., Down Syndrome, epilepsy, etc.), or if they have contra-indications to MRI scanning (i.e., metal implants)

Treatments Being Tested

BEHAVIORAL

Building Emotion Awareness and Mental Health (BEAM)

BEAM is based on best-practices in telehealth and science-based program design principles aimed at promoting parental mental health and supportive parenting. The BEAM Program mobile application is designed and managed by MindSea. The weekly one-on-one check-ins with peer coaches (parents who previously participated in another research group-based mental health intervention) will use the secure videoconferencing platform Zoom (Healthcare license) and direct messaging through the BEAM app. Peer coaches will also engage with participants on the community peer support forum. Monthly drop-in group peer support sessions will be facilitated by peer coaches and/or mental health professionals on the BEAM research team. The BEAM program's content emphasizes self-compassion, effective communication practices, and building social support networks.

Locations (2)

University of Calgary

Calgary, Alberta, Canada

University of British Columbia

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada