Emotional Problem
Conditions
Keywords
Social skills, Emotional skills, Program evaluation, Preschool children
Brief summary
Emotional problems are among the most frequent psychological problems in the school stage, having an early onset. When they are not detected and they do not receive adequate intervention, they persist and become chronic, being considered precursors of other problems in adolescence and adulthood. The early onset of emotional problems, and their precursor role for other disorders, justify the need for preventive interventions as soon as possible. Since there is evidence that anxiety and depression share common underlying mechanisms, preventive programs should address shared risk factors. For this reason, the objective of this study is to test the effectiveness of an 8-session cognitive-behavioral protocol developed for Spanish children aged 4 to 6 in the educational context in a controlled trial. The objective of the program is that children improve their skills to manage their own emotions and to improve their ability to interact with other. The program will be applied ina group format and will be enriched with multimedia material that the implementer will project at various moments of the sessions.
Detailed description
A 2 x 3 factorial design will be used, with the intervention variable as an intergroup factor (intervention or waiting list), and with the evaluation phase as an intragroup factor (pretest, posttest, 12 months follow-up). Parents and children will complete the same measures at baseline, post-treatment, and follow-up. The investigators will compare the results of pre- and post-assessments of children participating in the program on emotional and social variables.
Interventions
OTHERThe SuperKids Program
The SuperKids program will be administered following the manual of the intervention by a trained therapist, as described in the section of intervention/ treatment
Sponsors
Universidad Miguel Hernandez de Elche
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
PREVENTION
Masking
SINGLE (Outcomes Assessor)
Intervention model description
Cross-assignment. Participants who meet the inclusion criteria and undergo the full baseline assessment will be assigned to the intervention group condition or to the WLC group. Children assigned to the intervention condition will receive the eight-week intervention. Participants in the WLC group will not receive any psychological intervention during the eight-week program. Children and parents in all groups will complete the same set of measures at approximately the same time (pre-test and post-eight weeks). Children in the WLC group will receive the intervention after the follow-up visit is completed.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
4 Years to 6 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Children aged 4 to 6 years.
Exclusion criteria
* Intellectual disability, behavioral symptoms or autistic spectrum symptoms whose severity prevented the continuation of treatment. * Current psychological or pharmacological treatment for anxiety and/or depression. * Not accepting or revoking informed consent to participate in the study.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| The Kiddy-KINDL-R | Before starting the study | Baseline level of physical and emotional well-being reported by parents as measured by the Kiddy-KINDL-R questionnaire. The Kiddy-KINDL-R measures assesses physical and emotional well-being of children aged 4 to 7 years across six dimensions: physical well-being, psychological well-being, self-esteem, family, social relationships, and school. Parents rate each item on a 5-point Likert scale: never (1), almost never (2), sometimes (3), almost always (4), and always (5). The total score is calculated by adding the scores for each dimension (range for each dimension: 4 to 20 points). Higher scores on each subscale and on the total scale indicate higher symptoms in children. |
| Preschool Spence Anxiety Scale (PAS) | Before starting the study | Baseline child-reported anxiety symptoms as measured by the Preschool Spence Anxiety Scale (PAS). The PAS measures symptom severity of DSMIV anxiety disorders in children (subscales: total, panic and agoraphobia, generalized anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, social phobia, separation anxiety, and specific fears). The frequency of symptoms is recorded on a 3-point Likert scale from 0 (never) to 3 (always). A minimum possible score of 0 and a maximum possible score of 114 is obtained. Higher scores indicate greater symptom severity. Higher scores indicate greater symptom severity. |
| the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire | Before starting the study | Baseline Parent-reported depressive symptoms as measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, parent version (SDQ; Goodman, 1997). The SDQ measure examines emotional difficulties (5 items), conduct problems (5 items), hyperactivity (5 items), peer problems (5 items), and prosocial behavior (5 items) in children aged 3 to 16 years. Symptom frequency is recorded on a 3-point Likert scale from 0 (Not true) to 3 (Absolutely true). A minimum possible score of 0 and a maximum possible score of 114 is obtained. Higher scores indicate greater severity of symptoms. Higher scores indicate greater symptom severity. |
| Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire (BIQ | Before starting the study | Baseline of children's behavioral inhibition measured using the Behavioral Inhibition Questionnaire (BIQ). The BIQ assesses the frequency of children's behavioral inhibition in six contexts across three domains: social novelty (unknown adults, peers, and performance in front of others), situational novelty (unfamiliar situations, preschool/separation), and novel physical activities with a possible risk of injury. This questionnaire has 30 items that are scored on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (almost never) to 7 (almost always). Item scores are summed to create six scale scores: Unknown Peers, Unknown Adults, Performance Situations, Separation/Preschool, Unknown Situations, and Physically Challenging Situations. |
| Parental Overprotection Scale | Baseline | Parental overprotective behavior is assessed with the Parental Overprotection Scale (OP, Edwards et al., 2008). POM evaluates, through 19 items, the overprotective behavior of parents towards their children, related in previous studies to anxiety in preschool children. Symptom frequency is recorded on a 3-point Likert scale, from 0 (not at all) to 4 (very much). |
| Depression Anxiety Stress Scales - short version (DASS-21) | Baseline | Baseline parental depression, anxiety and stress symptoms Measured by the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales - short version (DASS-21). It contains a set of three self-report scales designed to measure the emotional states of depression, anxiety and stress. Each of the three DASS-21 scales contains 7 items, divided into subscales with similar content. The depression scale assesses dysphoria, hopelessness, devaluation of life, self-deprecation, lack of interest / involvement, anhedonia and inertia. The anxiety scale assesses autonomic arousal, skeletal muscle effects, situational anxiety, and subjective experience of anxious affect. The stress scale is sensitive to levels of chronic nonspecific arousal. It assesses difficulty relaxing, nervous arousal, and being easily upset / agitated, irritable / over-reactive and impatient. Scores for depression, anxiety and stress are calculated by summing the scores for the relevant items. |
Countries
Spain
Contacts
Primary ContactMarina Serrano Ortiz
Backup ContactMireia Orgilés Amorós
Outcome results
None listed