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Behavior, HealthNCT05963633

Future Thinking to Improve Parent-Child Relationships

A study testing Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) and Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT) in people with Behavior, Health, run by Henry Ford Health System at 1 site in United States.

Active, not recruiting

Under way, not looking for participants. Everyone needed has enrolled. The study is still running.

Official record
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Trial summary

Parents with substance use disorders are disproportionately more likely to engage in harsh physical discipline, which can lead to serious clinical outcomes, including child maltreatment and the intergenerational transmission of addictive disorders. Read more about this study

Who is it for?
Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
Conditions the study is for
Behavior, Health
What is being tested?
Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) and Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)
Could I receive a placebo?
No, everyone receives an active treatment
How many people
72 participants
Where
1 siteUnited States
Study dates
1 Sep 2023to 1 Dec 2025
Phase
Interventional
Are there results?
Not yet: the study is under way

Key requirements

Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.

  • Ages Any age
  • All sexes
  • Healthy volunteers accepted
  • Child, Adult, Older adult

Who may be able to join

  • Be the parent of a child between the ages of 6-10
  • Willing to participate in the study
  • Able to participate in written assessments and an intervention conducted in English
  • Are receiving services at Flint or Saginaw Odyssey House ("Odyssey House")
  • Be willing to receive check-ins regarding intervention content over the two weeks following the intervention
  • Can legally consent for the child to take part in the study and have regular contact with their child

Who cannot join

  • Self-disclosed active suicidality/homicidality
  • Self-disclosed current bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or psychosis
  • Study enrollment with more than 1 child

Trial locations and contacts

1 site in 1 country.

United States1 site
  • Odyssey Village

    Flint, Michigan, 48502

Other trials in United States

About this study

Official title: Further Forward: Future Thinking to Improve Parent-Child Relationships

Parents with substance use disorders are disproportionately more likely to engage in harsh physical discipline, which can lead to serious clinical outcomes, including child maltreatment and the intergenerational transmission of addictive disorders. One mechanism linking substance use and maladaptive parenting strategies is parental delay discounting, or the tendency to value smaller, immediate rewards (such as stopping children's misbehavior via physical punishment) relative to larger, but delayed rewards (like shaping adaptive child behaviors over time). This study will examine the effectiveness of a brief, episodic future thinking (EFT) intervention in a substance use treatment setting to increase parents' focus on positive, future events associated with enhancing the parent-child relationship. This study will inform broader public health efforts aimed at reducing child maltreatment and interrupting intergenerational cycles of substance abuse in traditionally underserved communities.

Read the detailed description

Parents with substance use disorders (SUD) are significantly more likely to engage in harsh parenting practices, including spanking, hitting, and belittling their children, than parents without SUD. Punitive physical and emotional discipline is, in turn, associated with increased rates of child maltreatment and the subsequent intergenerational transmission of substance use disorders. Parents in residential substance use treatment facilities are among those at highest risk for perpetrating harsh and abusive parenting; yet most behaviorally based parenting interventions available within inpatient settings do not take into account the unique mechanisms linking parental substance use to harsh parenting. Specifically, parents with SUD may be at heightened risk for engaging in maladaptive parenting approaches given a tendency to prioritize immediate rewards (such as stopping a child's misbehavior using physical punishment) relative to larger, but delayed rewards (including shaping positive child behavior over a longer term). This behavioral tendency is known as delay discounting and recent findings suggest that rates of delay discounting predict parents' use of harsh physical discipline. Existing research also indicates a strong link between steeper (more problematic) rates of delay discounting and the severity of alcohol and illicit drug use across the lifespan. Thus, delay discounting may represent a specific vulnerability underlying both harsh parenting and disordered substance use. Rather than trying to decrease negative parenting practices, the focus of this study is to promote positive parent-child relationships by envisioning future-directed events. To date, no research has examined EFT in relation to parenting behaviors. Moreover, the intervention requires limited time and financial resources to implement, suggesting it may be effectively delivered in a disadvantaged community. The aims of the current study are to conduct a Stage 1 RCT (n = 72) examining the effectiveness of a brief, episodic future thinking (EFT) intervention in a substance use treatment setting serving low-income parents and additional implementation data. Participants will be randomized to receive either Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) or Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT) intervention arms. Outcomes will evaluate the effect EFT on reducing maternal delay discounting and harsh parenting and improving child clinical outcomes. Results from this case series will inform a revision of the intervention with respect to dosage and feasibility outcomes. The intervention will be delivered by peer recovery coaches who are already employed in the center.

Being tested
Episodic Future Thinking (EFT), Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)
Keywords
episodic future thinking, delay discounting, parent-child relations, low income, substance use treatment
Medical subject headings
Health Behavior

What participants receive

What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.

  • Episodic Future Thinking (EFT)Behavioural

    The adapted episodic future thinking (EFT) intervention will focus on generation of vivid, substance-free, rewarding events that could happen in the future with their children.

  • Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)Behavioural

    In the episodic recent thinking (ERT) condition, the participant will instead describe in vivid details events that have occurred in the recent past.

Study groups in NCT05963633
Study groupRoleWhat they receive
Episodic Future Thinking (EFT)ExperimentalParents who are receiving residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment will receive an adapted episodic future thinking focused condition. Parents will meet with peer recovery coaches (PRCs) who will administer the intervention, focused on generating future, pleasant milestones with their children. The participant will also be allowed to draw or write about the scene, to help them envision it, which they will keep to refer to if they choose. After the intervention session, PRCs will check-in with parents daily over the course of two weeks to practice episodic future thinking (EFT) intervention by asking participants to further elaborate on the milestones they identified in the intervention to prompt these episodes in vivid detail.
Receives: Behavioral: Episodic Future Thinking (EFT)
Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)Active comparatorParents who are receiving residential substance use disorder (SUD) treatment will receive an adapted episodic recent thinking intervention. Parents will meet with peer recovery coaches (PRCs) who will administer the intervention. During the intervention, the participant will be asked to describe in detail two things they struggled with and two things that went well that occurred during the last few days. The participant will also be allowed to draw or write about the scene, to help them envision it, which they will keep to refer to if they choose. After the intervention session, or present-oriented thinking (in the comparison condition, by asking participants to discuss an event that happened that day PRCs will check-in with parents daily over the course of two weeks to practice episodic future thinking (EFT) intervention by asking participants to further elaborate on the milestones they identified in the intervention to prompt these episodes in vivid detail.
Receives: Behavioral: Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT)

What is being measured

The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.

  1. Change in Delay Discounting 5 Trial Adjusted Measure

    The computer based adjusting amount discounting task uses an adjusting algorithm to determine the amount of immediately available money that is equivalent to a large sum that is delayed by seven discrete durations of time presented in a randomized order (i.e., 1 day, 1 week, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 5 years, and 25 years).At each delay, a choice is first presented between the delayed larger sum and a smaller sum available immediately. For each trial, the position of the delayed and immediate amounts are randomly assigned the left or right portion of the screen, and the participant chooses the preferred option by pressing the corresponding left or right response button.

    Measured: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 14

  2. Change in Consideration of Future Consequences Scale

    The Consideration of Future Consequences Scale1 (CFCS-14) is a 14-item self-report questionnaire that assesses active consideration of longer-term implications of an individual's actions. Lower scores on the CFCS-14 are associated with a greater focus on immediate needs and have been found to be associated with less engagement in health behaviors1819 and greater substance use. The measure has been used extensively among adult samples and demonstrates strong reliability and validity. Research suggests modest but significant correlations with the MCQ.

    Measured: Baseline, Week 4, Week 14

Secondary outcomes (1)
  1. Change in Alabama Parenting Questionnaire Scores

    The Alabama Parenting Questionnaire (APQ) is a 42-item self-report measure of parenting behaviors. The questionnaire includes five subscales: (1) positive involvement with children, (2) supervision and monitoring, (3) use of positive discipline techniques, (4) consistent use of discipline, and (5) use of corporal punishment. The measure is widely used and has demonstrated excellent internal consistency and validity.

    Measured: Baseline, Week 4

Timeline

From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.

  1. First posted27 Jul 2023
  2. Study start1 Sep 2023
  3. Primary completion1 Dec 2025 (estimated)
  4. Study completion1 Dec 2025 (estimated)

Resources

More details

For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.

Study design
Study type
Interventional
Phase
Phase N/A
Primary purpose
Prevention
Allocation
Randomised
Intervention model
Parallel groups
Masking
None (open label)
Enrolment
72 participants (actual)
IDs, dates and publications
ClinicalTrials.gov ID
NCT05963633
Sponsor's protocol ID
NARCT: 16430-01
Status last verified
Oct 2025
First submitted
19 Jul 2023
Last updated
26 Nov 2025
Results posted
No
Data monitoring committee
No
FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
Individual data sharing
No

Publications

  • Dassen FC, Houben K, Jansen A. Time orientation and eating behavior: Unhealthy eaters consider immediate consequences, while healthy eaters focus on future health. Appetite. 2015 Aug;91:13-9. doi: 10.1016/j.appet.2015.03.020. Epub 2015 Mar 23.

    PubMed 25814191
  • Felton JW, Kofler MJ, Lopez CM, Saunders BE, Kilpatrick DG. The emergence of co-occurring adolescent polysubstance use and depressive symptoms: A latent growth modeling approach. Dev Psychopathol. 2015 Nov;27(4 Pt 1):1367-83. doi: 10.1017/S0954579414001473.

    PubMed 26439081
  • Felton JW, Collado A, Cinader M, Lejuez CW, Chronis-Tuscano A, Yi R. Exposure to maternal depressive symptoms and growth in adolescent substance use: The mediating role of delay discounting. Dev Psychopathol. 2021 Oct;33(4):1279-1289. doi: 10.1017/S0954579420000486.

    PubMed 32519638
  • Felton JW, Collado A, Ingram KM, Doran K, Yi R. Improvement of Working Memory is a Mechanism for Reductions in Delay Discounting Among Mid-Age Individuals in an Urban Medically Underserved Area. Ann Behav Med. 2019 Oct 7;53(11):988-998. doi: 10.1093/abm/kaz010.

    PubMed 30955043
  • Lin H, Epstein LH. Living in the moment: effects of time perspective and emotional valence of episodic thinking on delay discounting. Behav Neurosci. 2014 Feb;128(1):12-9. doi: 10.1037/a0035705.

    PubMed 24512061
  • Moreland, A.M., Felton, J.F., Hanson, R.F., Jackson, C., & Dumas, J.E. (2016). The relation between parenting stress and parenting locus of control: Mechanisms of change in parenting interventions. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 25, 2046-2054.

  • Stein JS, Wilson AG, Koffarnus MN, Daniel TO, Epstein LH, Bickel WK. Unstuck in time: episodic future thinking reduces delay discounting and cigarette smoking. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2016 Oct;233(21-22):3771-3778. doi: 10.1007/s00213-016-4410-y. Epub 2016 Aug 23.

    PubMed 27553824

Questions about this trial

What is this clinical trial studying?

A study testing Episodic Future Thinking (EFT) and Episodic Recent Thinking (ERT) in people with Behavior, Health, run by Henry Ford Health System at 1 site in United States.

The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.

Who may be eligible to take part?

The sponsor lists 6 inclusion and 3 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.

Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?

The record says: under way, not looking for participants, as of the sponsor's last update on 26 Nov 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.

Where is the study taking place?

The record lists 1 site in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.

What are the possible benefits and risks?

They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.

Are results available for this study?

This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.

How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?

The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.

What does the primary outcome measure?

Change in Delay Discounting 5 Trial Adjusted Measure (time frame: Baseline, Week 2, Week 4, Week 14). The study lists 2 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.

Where can I read the original study information?

On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT05963633, which also lists 7 linked publications.

Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?

No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.

How often is this information updated?

AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 26 Nov 2025.

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