NCT07047378

ACT-Based Training for Parental Burnout and Child Well-being

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-Based Training Programme for Reducing Parental Burnout and Improving Emotional and Behavioural Issues in Children: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 120 (estimated)
• Sponsor: Chinese University of Hong Kong · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 3 Years – 65 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

The purpose of the proposed randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in reducing parental burnout and improving children's emotional and behavioral adjustment in families in Hong Kong over 3 months after the intervention. The findings will provide valuable and scientific insights to inform better parenting interventions and child protection policies.

Detailed description

Parental burnout is becoming more widely recognized as a serious social issue. It is particularly prevalent among high-stress families like those impacted by child maltreatment or domestic violence. According to prior research, psychological flexibility-a core component of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-is crucial for promoting healthy parent-child relationships and adaptive parenting practices. However, there is still a dearth of empirical evidence supporting ACT-based interventions for reducing parental burnout and improving child adjustment. The purpose of this study is to investigate how ACT interventions differ in their impact on parents and children in Hong Kong. The specific aims are to evaluate the effectiveness of an ACT-based training program in lowering parental burnout and investigate its influence on children's emotional and behavioral adjustment. Parents will participate in an ACT-based parenting training program designed to increase psychological flexibility in the ACT intervention group. Aiming at improving psychological flexibility and reducing parental burnout, the training program incorporates mindfulness, values-based parenting, and cognitive defusion strategies. It provides parents with the resources they require to manage stress, regulate emotions, and promote parent-child relationships, which benefits both themselves and their children. To foster emotional regulation and resilience, children aged 6-11 will also participate in a group-based, child-focused ACT Program designed for their developmental needs. This program incorporates experiential learning exercises, mindfulness activities, and storytelling using picture books to facilitate participation and engagement. These child-focused components seek to reinforce the skills parents have learned while directly supporting child adjustment. This study aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of a group-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention targeting. The intervention is designed to improve parental psychological flexibility and parenting behaviour, enhance parent- child relationships, and child-related outcomes within a separate sample of parents and children over the 3- month post-intervention. The study will be conducted in collaboration with Harmony Home Limited, leveraging the expertise of paraprofessionals trained in ACT.

Conditions

• Child Abuse
• Parental Burnout

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	ACT Intervention Group	For Parent ACT Group, parents will participate in a six-week, group-based ACT program integrated with behavioral parenting training based on positive parenting principles. Each session lasts two hours and includes 65 minutes of ACT-based activities (e.g., experiential exercises, guided imagery, mindfulness, values clarification, metaphors) and 25 minutes of parenting education and/or behavioral skills training. For Children ACT Group, children (aged 6-11) will also receive a child-focused ACT intervention to help them manage emotional challenges. Each session lasts two hours and includes 65 minutes of ACT-based activities (e.g., experiential exercises, guided imagery, mindfulness, values clarification, metaphors) and 25 minutes of behavioral skills training.
OTHER	control group	Participants allocated to the Control Group will not receive the ACT intervention but will continue to receive the standard services originally provided by Harmony House. These services constitute usual care and include initial assessments, individual counselling, group counselling, the provision of community resource information, and referrals. Control group participants will receive these supports as usual. This study will not alter their existing service arrangements in any way, nor will it add to or reduce the support they receive. Aside from not participating in the ACT program, the control group's experience will be identical to that of clients receiving regular services. After the intervention group completes the program, the control group will be offered the same course content (i.e., a waitlist intervention arrangement).

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-04-22
• Primary completion: 2027-04-30
• Completion: 2028-04-30
• First posted: 2025-07-02
• Last updated: 2025-07-10

Locations

2 sites across 1 country: Hong Kong