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Safe Mothers, Safe Children Initiative

Treating Maternal PTSD to Enhance and Reduce Maltreatment Recidivism: Safe Mothers, Safe Children

Status
Recruiting
Phases
Unknown
Study type
Interventional
Source
ClinicalTrials.gov
Registry ID
NCT04752618
Acronym
SMSC
Enrollment
160
Registered
2021-02-12
Start date
2021-05-01
Completion date
2027-04-30
Last updated
2026-02-04

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

Conditions

PTSD, Depression, Child Maltreatment

Brief summary

The purpose of this study is to assess the efficacy of the combined interventions, Skills Training in Affective and Interpersonal Regulation (STAIR) and Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) or P-STAIR, for treating maternal PTSD and reducing maltreatment recidivism.

Detailed description

This study is a two-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT): P-STAIR (23 sessions) vs. supportive counseling (SC) (23 sessions). Eligible cases are randomized to P-STAIR and SC in a 1:1 ratio. Participants will be mothers receiving family preservation services (FPS), with a child in the age range of 1-10 years old, and PTSD (with/without depression). Symptom progress will be measured at pre-treatment, two in-treatment assessments (9 weeks and 16 weeks), post-treatment, and at a 6-month follow-up.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALP-STAIR

PCIT+ STAIR

Non-trauma focused psychotherapy

Sponsors

New York University
Lead SponsorOTHER

Study design

Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
TREATMENT
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)

Masking description

Assessors and preventive case planners are blind to treatment arm.

Intervention model description

P-STAIR vs Supportive Counseling

Eligibility

Sex/Gender
FEMALE
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

* Receiving preventive services at the time of the consent session to participate in the study * Meeting a severity score of 28 or higher OR probable DSM-5 diagnostic criteria for PTSD (PDS-5) * Having 1-10-year-old child * Being the legal guardian for the child with physical and legal custody * Being able to read, write, and speak English or Spanish

Exclusion criteria

* Having suicidal ideation present in the past month prior to pre-assessment or reports of a suicide attempt in the past year (SCID-5) * Meeting a diagnosis of severe substance or alcohol use disorder (≥ 6 symptoms on SCID) AND not in early remission (≥3 months without meeting any substance or alcohol use disorder criteria (except craving) * Having current or active symptoms of psychosis in the past month * Having a disability affecting communication, such as deafness * Having an index child with a developmental condition that impedes cognitive and/or physical functioning, e.g. autism * Having an index child with current symptoms or diagnosis of psychosis as defined by the DSM-5 in the past 3 months * Experiencing current or history of intimate partner violence (IPV) or family violence: If there is a history of IPV/family violence and the relationship is no longer active, the relationship must have ended for at least ninety days with no intention of restarting; If there is a history of IPV/family violence, but the relationship is ongoing, there must not have been an IPV/family violence event for at least one year

Design outcomes

Primary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Post-traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale for the DSM-5 (PDS-5)Change from baseline (pre-treatment) to mid-treatment at session 9 and 16 to upon completion of treatment (an average of 43 weeks) to six-month follow-up after treatment completionPost-traumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale for the DSM-5 (PDS-5) is a 24-item self-report measure of PTSD symptoms over the last month. Items are rated on a 5-point scale of frequency and severity ranging from 0 ("not at all") to 4 ("6 or more times a week/severe"). Higher scores indicate more severe PTSD symptoms. PDS-5 will be used to monitor change in PTSD symptoms over treatment implementation. PDS-5 is also used during the baseline to evaluate for inclusion/exclusion criteria.
Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D)Change from baseline (pre-treatment) to mid-treatment at session 9 and 16 to upon completion of treatment (an average of 43 weeks) to six-month follow-up after treatment completionCenter for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) is a 20-item self-report measure of symptoms associated with depression, such as restless sleep, poor appetite, and feeling lonely. Items are rated on a 3-point scale ranging from 0 ("rarely or none of the time") to 3 ("most or almost all of the time"). Scores range from 0 to 60, with high scores indicating greater depressive symptoms. CES-D will be used to assess change in depression symptoms over treatment implementation.
Dyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-IV (DPICS)Change from baseline (pre-treatment) to mid-treatment at session 16 to upon completion of treatment (an average of 43 weeks) to six-month follow-up after treatment completionDyadic Parent-Child Interaction Coding System-IV (DPICS) examines the quality of parent-child social interaction in three 5-minute situations: child-directed play, parent-directed play, and clean-up. Positive skills include praise, reflect, and describe, and negative skills include questions, commands, and criticisms. Observations are coded by trained DPICS scorers to produce total scores. DPICS scores allow us to track the changes in positive and negative parenting scores over treatment implementation.
New foster care removalsEvery six-months for 10 yearsData is collected through the New York State Child Welfare Registry (NYSCWR) semi-annually on the number of out-of-home placements for 10 years for completers and non-completers who have consented into the study. Number of new foster care removals are located by unique NYSCWR identifiers collected at time of consent. Out-of-home placement data, in addition to new substantiated welfare reports, will be used to assess recidivism.
New child abuse/neglect welfare reportsEvery six-months for 10 yearsData is collected through the New York State Child Welfare Registry (NYSCWR) semi-annually on the number of substantiated abuse/neglect reports for 10 years for completers and non-completers who have consented into the study. Number of new substantiated reports are located by unique NYSCWR identifiers collected at time of consent. New substantiated welfare reports, as well as out-of-home placement data, will be used to assess recidivism.
Family Preservation Services Usual Care (FPSUC) reportsThroughout study completion, an average 43 weeksFamily Preservation Services Usual Care (FPSUC) is extracted from electronic records that agencies use to document services. FPSUC details the number of services accessed in preventative agencies for clients. Data will be used to statistically control for FPSUC.

Secondary

MeasureTime frameDescription
Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5)Change from baseline (pre-treatment) to mid-treatment at session 16 to upon completion of treatment (an average of 43 weeks) to six-month follow-up after treatment completionStructured Clinical Interview for DSM-5 (SCID-5) is the gold standard for determining DSM-5 Axis I current diagnoses and psychiatric history. The SCID-5 alcohol and substance use and psychosis modules will be used. SCID-5 will be used to track changes in substance use/abuse and symptoms of psychosis, as well as to evaluate inclusion/exclusion criteria.
Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS)Change from baseline (pre-treatment) to mid-treatment at session 9 and 16 to upon completion of treatment (an average of 43 weeks) to six-month follow-up after treatment completionDifficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) is a 36-item self-report measure used to assesses emotion regulation. Items are rated on a scale of 1 ("almost never \[0-10%\]") to 5 ("almost always \[91-100%\]"). Higher scores indicate more difficulty in emotion regulation. DERS has adequate construct and predictive validity and good test-retest reliability. DERS will be used to evaluate level of emotion regulation skills during treatment implementation.
Adult Adolescent Parenting Inventory-2.1 (AAPI-2.1)Change from baseline (pre-treatment) to end of treatment (average 43 weeks) to six-month follow-upAdult Adolescent Parenting Inventory-2.1 (AAPI-2.1) is a self-reporting inventory that measures parental behaviors and is commonly used to assess the risk of child abuse and neglect. Items are rated on a scale of 1 ("strongly agree") to 5 ("strongly disagree"). AAPI-2.1 has five sub-constructs: expectations of children, parental empathy towards children's needs, use of corporal punishment, parent-child family roles, and children's power and independence. Higher scores indicate lower risk of parental abuse/neglect. AAPI will be used to monitor the change in parental behaviors over treatment implementation.
Treatment Services Review (TSR)Baseline (pre-treatment)Treatment Services Review (TSR) is an interview used to gather information about specific mental health services received outside of the study treatment and treatment received one year prior to the time of the baseline (pre) assessment. It describes treatment type (individual therapy vs. group), provider type (psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker), length (in years) and frequency of treatment (rate of appointments), rate of hospitalizations, and medications prescribed.
Therapy Acceptability and Expectations (TAE)Change from baseline (pre-treatment) to mid-treatment at session 9 and 16 to upon completion of treatment (an average of 43 weeks) to six-month follow-up after treatment completionTherapy Acceptability and Expectations (TAE) is a 5-item scale that evaluates credibility and engagement of study treatment. Items range from 0 ("not at all") to 8 ("extremely"). Higher scores indicate greater acceptability of treatment. TAE is administered throughout treatment in order to assess the clinician-client therapeutic relationship and client engagement with treatment. Necessary changes that arise from the TAE are addressed in future treatment sessions.
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ)Change from baseline (pre-treatment) to mid-treatment at session 9 and 16 to upon completion of treatment (an average of 43 weeks) to six-month follow-up after treatment completionStrengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is a 25-item parent-report behavioral screening questionnaire that comprises five sub-scales: emotional symptoms, conduct problems, hyperactivity/inattention, peer relationship problems, and prosocial behavior. Items have the following responses: "not true," "somewhat true," and "certainly true." Higher scores indicate a higher likelihood of emotional and/or behavioral difficulties. SDQ will be used throughout treatment to assess change in behavior of the child participating in the parent-child dyadic play observations.
Working Alliance Inventory Short Form (WAI-S)Change from mid-treatment at session 9 and 16 to upon completion of treatment (an average of 15 weeks).The WAI-S is a 12-item measure assessing three key aspects of the therapeutic alliance: agreement on the tasks of therapy, agreement on the goals of therapy, and development of an affective bond. Item responses range from 1 ("Never") to 7 ("Always"). Higher scores indicate a higher quality of the therapeutic alliance. The WAI-S is administered throughout treatment beginning at mid-treatment in order to assess the working relationship between a client and their treating clinician, from both the participant and clinician perspectives.

Countries

United States

Contacts

CONTACTHanaan Osman
ho2233@nyu.edu212-998-4296
PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATORMichael A Lindsey

New York University

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026