kContact: Keeping Contact between parents and children in care. A trial of an enhanced model of contact with parents to reduce child distress and improve children's emotional safety.

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Child Welfare; Parenting; Family Contact; Mental Health; Mental Health - Other mental health disorders; Public Health - Other public health

• Registration Number: ACTRN12615000313538
• Lead Sponsor: Australian Catholic University, Institute of Child Protection Studies

Brief Summary

Not available

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Results First Posted: 1900-01-01
• Study Start: 2015-04-07
• Study Completion: 2018-08-31
• Last Update Posted: 13 January 2020

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 183

Inclusion Criteria

There are four groups of participants who will be recruited and interviewed as part of the study.

1. Children who are in permanent out-of-home care and have supervised contact managed by one of the participating agencies in ACT will be interviewed if they are aged between 8 and 14 years. Information will be collected from others about children (with consent).

2. Parents of children aged 0 to 14 years who are in permanent out-of-home care and have supervised contact managed by one of the participating agencies in ACT, NSW and Victoria.

3. Carers of these children are also eligible to participate.

4. Workers from the partner agencies allocated to the children in the study will also be invited to be interviewed.

Although parents, carers and workers are also to be interviewed, the sample is based on 180 child participants (90 in the intervention group and 90 in the control group).

Exclusion Criteria

Participants with communication difficulties (cognitive or sensory, language barrier); serious psychological illnesses; and participants who do not consent to participate in the study. Participants will be assessed for suitability on a case by case basis as appropriate.

Study & Design

• Study Type: Interventional
• Study Design: Not specified

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Primary Outcome 1: Children’s emotional safety and distress related to contact as measured by the SDQ. A total score of 17 and above is considered within the clinical range. <br><br>This is a composite outcome.[Timepoint: At initial recruitment into the study (prior to the intervention). It will also be measured at a 9 month follow up. ]

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Secondary outcome 1: Relationships between children and their parents as assessed using a qualitative interview and the Child Parent Relationship Scale.[Timepoint: Completed pre intervention and at 9 month follow up.];Secondary Outcome 2: The ability of parents to support children in the context of contact visits as assessed using a qualitative interview.<br>[Timepoint: Completed pre intervention and at 9 month follow up.];Secondary outcome 3: The proportion of contact visits cancelled within the nine month follow-up period in comparison to a control group as assessed through self report and administrative data.<br>[Timepoint: Completed pre intervention and at 9 month follow up.<br>]