NCT04107714

Starting the Conversation

Starting the Conversation (STC) - Web-based Group Intervention to Support Disclosure Decisions for Parents of Children With Mental Illness

• Status: Terminated
• Phase: Phase 2
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 5 (actual)
• Sponsor: University of Ulm · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Not accepted

Summary

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the group-based intervention "Starting the Conversation" as a webinar in Germany. Feasibility and efficacy of the program will be tested in a pilot randomized-controlled trial (RCT).

Detailed description

Parents of children with mental illness often experience public and self-stigma, and keeping a child's mental illness secret is a common strategy to avoid stigma. Both secrecy and disclosure have pros and cons for parents and their children. Therefore, the decision whether, when, and to whom to disclose a child's mental illness is complex. Interventions can provide guidance for systematic consideration and a well informed decision. The manualized peer-led group intervention "Honest, Open, Proud" (HOP) supports people with mental illness in their decision whether to disclose mental illness. Research showed positive effects of the intervention on stigma stress, disclosure-related distress and quality of life. Based on HOP, "Starting the Conversation" (STC) was developed to systematically guide parents through their decision whether and how to disclose a child's mental illness. At the moment, there is no data regarding feasibility and efficacy of STC, but two pilot RCTs of STC are currently underway, one in Western Australia and one in Wisconsin, USA. The aim of the current study is to evaluate feasibility and efficacy of STC as a webinar in a pilot RCT in German.

Conditions

• Stigma of Parents of Children With Mental Illness

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	STC	The peer-led and web-based group program contains four lessons plus one booster session: * Lesson 1: Consider the pros and cons of disclosing: Participants reflect on their experience of self-stigma and weight their pros and cons of (non-)disclosing their child's mental illness. * Lesson 2: Different ways to disclose: Participants learn about different ways to disclose and their respective pros and cons. Afterwards participants discuss possible responses they might experience and develop strategies to cope with. * Lesson 3: Communication about disclosure between parents and their child: Participants discuss pros and cons of (non-)disclosure for their children and how to negotiate whether to disclose or not. * Lesson 4: Telling your story: Participants learn how to tell their own story. * In a booster session, participants discuss their experiences with disclosure or non-disclosure.

Timeline

• Start date: 2019-10-01
• Primary completion: 2021-02-01
• Completion: 2021-05-01
• First posted: 2019-09-27
• Last updated: 2021-05-07

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Germany