Caregiver Mind-Mindedness Training as an Early Intervention for Social Anxiety in Children: A protocol for an RCT intervention

Status

Recruiting

Phases

Early Phase 1

Study type

Interventional

Source

IRCT

Registry ID

IRCT20241110063662N1

Enrollment

100

Registered

2024-11-21

Start date

2024-12-01

Completion date

Unknown

Last updated

2025-01-08

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

children social anxiety. F93

Interventions

Intervention 1: intervention group: Mind-Mindedness (MM) Training. This group will receive three one-hour online sessions via Zoom, delivered once a week over three weeks. The MM program aims to impro

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

All

Age

18 Years to 60 Years

Inclusion criteria

Inclusion criteria: Primary caregiver of a child aged 4-7 years Caregiver aged 18-60 years Living in the UK or Iran Observable social anxiety symptoms in children confirmed by a screening tool

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion criteria: Child with another clinical diagnosis Child receiving other support/treatment

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
The primary outcome of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of caregiver's Mind-Mindedness (MM) training in reducing social anxiety symptoms among preschool children. Timepoint: The study measures the primary outcome (reducing social anxiety symptoms) at three time points:BaselinePost-intervention3-month follow-up. Method of measurement: Mind-Mindedness (MM): Assessed using the Mind-Mindedness Coding Manual 2.2 (Meins, 2015). This measures caregiver's ability to recognize and respond to the child as an individual with their own thoughts, feelings, and intentions.Child Social Anxiety: Assessed using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (Spence, 1997). This is a validated measure of anxiety symptoms in children.Attachment: Measured using the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (Spruit et al., 2018). This assesses the child's attachment security.Theory of Mind (ToM): Assessed using the Theory of Mind Task Battery (Hutchins et al., 2008). This evaluates the child's ability to understand and attribute mental states.	—

Measure

Time frame

The primary outcome of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of caregiver's Mind-Mindedness (MM) training in reducing social anxiety symptoms among preschool children. Timepoint: The study measures the primary outcome (reducing social anxiety symptoms) at three time points:BaselinePost-intervention3-month follow-up. Method of measurement: Mind-Mindedness (MM): Assessed using the Mind-Mindedness Coding Manual 2.2 (Meins, 2015). This measures caregiver's ability to recognize and respond to the child as an individual with their own thoughts, feelings, and intentions.Child Social Anxiety: Assessed using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (Spence, 1997). This is a validated measure of anxiety symptoms in children.Attachment: Measured using the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (Spruit et al., 2018). This assesses the child's attachment security.Theory of Mind (ToM): Assessed using the Theory of Mind Task Battery (Hutchins et al., 2008). This evaluates the child's ability to understand and attribute mental states.

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Secondary

Measure	Time frame
The key secondary outcome variables that may be examined in this study are:Attachment securityTheory of Mind abilitiesThe study aims to investigate whether improvements in these areas, as a result of the MM training, help explain the hypothesized reductions in child social anxiety symptoms. So these would be considered important secondary outcome variables, even though they are not named as such in the protocol. Timepoint: Baseline Post-intervention 3-month follow-up. Method of measurement: Mind-Mindedness (MM): Assessed using the Mind-Mindedness Coding Manual 2.2 (Meins, 2015). This measures caregiver's ability to recognize and respond to the child as an individual with their own thoughts, feelings, and intentions.Child Social Anxiety: Assessed using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (Spence, 1997). This is a validated measure of anxiety symptoms in children.Attachment: Measured using the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (Spruit et al., 2018). This assesses the child's attachment security.Theory of Mind (ToM): Assessed using the Theory of Mind Task Battery (Hutchins et al., 2008). This evaluates the child's ability to understand and attribute mental states.	—

Measure

Time frame

The key secondary outcome variables that may be examined in this study are:Attachment securityTheory of Mind abilitiesThe study aims to investigate whether improvements in these areas, as a result of the MM training, help explain the hypothesized reductions in child social anxiety symptoms. So these would be considered important secondary outcome variables, even though they are not named as such in the protocol. Timepoint: Baseline Post-intervention 3-month follow-up. Method of measurement: Mind-Mindedness (MM): Assessed using the Mind-Mindedness Coding Manual 2.2 (Meins, 2015). This measures caregiver's ability to recognize and respond to the child as an individual with their own thoughts, feelings, and intentions.Child Social Anxiety: Assessed using the Spence Children's Anxiety Scale (Spence, 1997). This is a validated measure of anxiety symptoms in children.Attachment: Measured using the Attachment Insecurity Screening Inventory (Spruit et al., 2018). This assesses the child's attachment security.Theory of Mind (ToM): Assessed using the Theory of Mind Task Battery (Hutchins et al., 2008). This evaluates the child's ability to understand and attribute mental states.

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Countries

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Contacts

Public ContactHiva Javadian

Herriot Watt university

hj2015@hw.ac.uk+44 7456 927219

Outcome results

None listed

Source: IRCT (via WHO ICTRP) · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026