Kidpower Camp - Structured Games or Playgroup

Sponsor
University of Michigan (Other)
Overall Status
Recruiting
CT.gov ID
NCT04960813
Collaborator
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) (NIH)
90
2
2
35.8
45
1.3

Study Details

Study Description

Brief Summary

Clinically significant anxiety affects 20% of preschoolers and can become chronic, leading to depression, substance abuse, school-drop out and even suicide. To reduce anxiety and prevent its sequelae, clinically affected children must be effectively treated early. Available interventions for clinically anxious preschoolers are effective for some, but not all children, with as many as 50% of 4-7 year olds continuing to meet criteria for an anxiety disorder after treatment.

This trial aims to help learn how Camp Kidpower, trainings using either structured games or a playgroup, may lower anxiety in preschool age children. Playing these games and learning that kids can do it, can teach kids how to keep going when they are feeling anxious. To find out if Kidpower works by helping kids stay in charge of their behaviors and emotions, the study will look at parts of the brain as well as behaviors related to effortful control and fear, before and after training.

The study hypothesizes that Kidpower will produce greater increases in Error-related negativity (ERN), Interchannel Phase Synchrony (ICPS) and effortful control (EC) behaviors than in the Playgroup control.

Condition or Disease Intervention/Treatment Phase
  • Behavioral: Structured games
  • Behavioral: Playgroup
N/A

Study Design

Study Type:
Interventional
Anticipated Enrollment :
90 participants
Allocation:
Randomized
Intervention Model:
Sequential Assignment
Intervention Model Description:
Children and one legal guardian/primary caregiver will be randomized 1:1 to structured games or a playgroup. The structured games and playgroup will run sequentially.Children and one legal guardian/primary caregiver will be randomized 1:1 to structured games or a playgroup. The structured games and playgroup will run sequentially.
Masking:
Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Masking Description:
The rater will be blinded to which intervention, structured games or playgroup, child participants receive.
Primary Purpose:
Treatment
Official Title:
Neurally Targeted Interventions to Reduce Early Childhood Anxiety
Actual Study Start Date :
Jul 7, 2021
Anticipated Primary Completion Date :
Jul 1, 2024
Anticipated Study Completion Date :
Jul 1, 2024

Arms and Interventions

Arm Intervention/Treatment
Experimental: Kidpower - Structured Games

Structured Games Camp.

Behavioral: Structured games
Camp Kidpower - Structured Games is an interactive, child-friendly "camp" and is comprised of short, game-like exercises taught by "camp counselors" to groups of approximately 4-6 children. In total, 15 different exercises will be taught. Children will attend 5 three-hour playgroup sessions over a 4-week period (twice the first week, and then only once per week for the subsequent 3-week period) to match the Playgroup intervention. Parents will be asked to attend an approximately one-hour group meeting, during which information is presented regarding child anxiety, effortful control and the rationale for this treatment. Parents are asked to continue to utilize the intervention at home every day if possible with the child and will receive texts or emails to track the games that are played at home.

Active Comparator: Kidpower - Playgroup

Playgroup camp

Behavioral: Playgroup
Camp Kidpower - Playgroup includes structured play activities. This will include art activities, dramatic play props, and a "story time". Children will attend 5 three-hour playgroup sessions over a 4-week period (twice the first week, and then only once per week for the subsequent 3-week period) to match the Kidpower intervention. During the first week parents will attend an approximately one-hour group meeting, during which information is presented regarding the positive benefits of child-led play and "special time" with caregivers. Parents well be asked to complete homework with their children during the week between sessions, and are shown how to track time spent in this activity. Parents will receive a daily text (or email) to to measure frequency of homework practice between sessions.

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

  1. Change in Error Related Negativity (ERN) [Pre-treatment (baseline) and post-treatment assessments (approximately 4-6 weeks)]

    The error-related negativity is a neurophysiological signal, measured via electroencephalogram (EEG), considered to reflect a dorsal anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) response to errors. For this study the ERN will be measured at electrode site FCz as the downward (negative voltage) deflection of the EEG signal that occurs 50-100 msec after error commission on the Zoo Task. Scores are measured continously (no established minimum or maximum) . Higher scores reflect greater neural capacity for effortful control.

  2. Change in National Institutes of Health (NIH) Toolbox Effortful Control (EC) Composite Scale [Pre-treatment (baseline) and post-treatment assessments (approximately 4-6 weeks)]

    The NIH Toolbox EC Composite Scale will be comprised of children's standardized scores reflecting accuracy and reaction time on two computerized tasks: the Flanker inhibitory control and attention task and the Dimensional Change Card Sort (DCCS) test of set-shifting function. An NIH Toolbox EC Composite score will be based on factor loadings for each task derived from a factor analysis of scores across both Toolbox tasks. Scores are measured continuously (no established minimum or maximum) . Higher scores reflect greater behavioral capacity for effortful control.

  3. Change in Clinical Global Impressions -Severity and Improvement Scales [Pre-treatment (baseline) and post-treatment assessments (approximately 4-6 weeks)]

    The Clinical Global Impressions (CGI) is an observer rated scale used to assess anxiety severity (CGI-S) and pre- to post-treatment improvement in anxiety (CGI-I). Ratings for both use a 7-point scale, from 1 "normal" to 7 "among the most severely ill" for CGI-S and 1 ("very much improved") to 7 ("very much worse") for CGI-I.

Secondary Outcome Measures

  1. Change in Anxiety Disorders Interview Schedule - Parent Version (ADIS-P) [Pre-treatment (baseline) and post-treatment assessments (approximately 4-6 weeks)]

    ADIS-P is a semi-structured clinical interview administered to parents to assess Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV) diagnoses where anxiety is a component. Severity of symptoms is rated by interviewers on a scale from none (=0) to very severe (=8), with clinician severity rating (CSR) ≥ 4 indicating presence of diagnosis.. Changes in CSR of the primary (i.e., most severe at baseline) anxiety diagnosis from pre to post intervention will be assessed.

  2. Change in Spence Preschool Anxiety Scale (Spence PAS) [Pre-treatment (baseline) up to post-treatment assessments (approximately 4-6 weeks)]

    The Spence PAS is a validated instrument for the measurement of parent report of anxiety symptoms in young children. Spence PAS scores will provide a continuous rating of anxiety symptoms from 0 to 112; high scores reflect greater anxiety.

Eligibility Criteria

Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study:
48 Months to 71 Months
Sexes Eligible for Study:
All
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
No
Inclusion Criteria:
  • Children between ages 4 -5.99 years

  • Children that have subclinical to clinical anxiety symptoms

Exclusion Criteria:
  • History of head injury

  • History of serious medical or neurological illness

  • History of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

  • History of major depressive disorder

  • Current psychotherapy or behavioral interventions

  • History of Neurodevelopmental delay, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), or intellectual disability

  • Child cannot be currently taking medications that affect central nervous system functioning

  • No recent history of physically aggressive behaviors that have caused harm to other children

  • No siblings will be enrolled, only one child per family

Contacts and Locations

Locations

Site City State Country Postal Code
1 University of Michigan Ann Arbor Michigan United States 48109
2 Michigan State University East Lansing Michigan United States 48824

Sponsors and Collaborators

  • University of Michigan
  • National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Kate Rosenblum, PhD, University of Michigan

Study Documents (Full-Text)

None provided.

More Information

Publications

None provided.
Responsible Party:
Maria Muzik, Associate Professor, University of Michigan
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:
NCT04960813
Other Study ID Numbers:
  • HUM00195779
  • 1R33MH121641-01A1
First Posted:
Jul 14, 2021
Last Update Posted:
Jan 12, 2022
Last Verified:
Dec 1, 2021
Individual Participant Data (IPD) Sharing Statement:
No
Plan to Share IPD:
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Drug Product:
No
Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated Device Product:
No
Keywords provided by Maria Muzik, Associate Professor, University of Michigan
Additional relevant MeSH terms:

Study Results

No Results Posted as of Jan 12, 2022