Child AbuseNCT07047378
ACT-Based Training for Parental Burnout and Child Well-being
A study testing ACT Intervention Group in people with Child Abuse and Parental Burnout, run by Chinese University of Hong Kong at 2 sites in Hong Kong.
Trial summary
The purpose of the proposed randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in reducing parental burnout and improving children's emotional and behavioral adjustment in families in Hong Kong over 3 months after the… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 3 to 65 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Child Abuse, Parental Burnout
- What is being tested?
- ACT Intervention Group
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 120 participants
- Where
- 2 sitesHong Kong
- Study dates
- 22 Apr 2025to 30 Apr 2028
- 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 3 to 65 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- For the Parent ACT Group:
- Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents between the ages of 19 and 65 years.
- Primary caregivers of a child aged 3 to 11 years.
- Have been identified by school social workers as being at risk of domestic violence or experiencing emotional distress.
- For the Child ACT Group:
- Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents between the ages of 3 and 11 years.
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- Have been identified by school social workers as being at risk of domestic violence or experiencing emotional distress.
- For both groups (Shared inclusion criteria):
- Participants must have sufficient Cantonese language proficiency to understand and communicate during the intervention.
- Both parents and children must provide informed consent to participate in the study and all related assessments.
Who cannot join
- For the Parent ACT Group:
- Parents diagnosed with severe mental illnesses.
- Parents with a developmental disability that interferes with their ability to comprehend the program's content.
- Parents with cognitive, language, communication, visual, or hearing impairments or disorders that could impede their understanding of the intervention content; or
- Parents currently participate in other psychosocial, psychoeducational, or parenting interventions.
- Parents with active substance abuse issues that may interfere with their ability to participate in or benefit from the program.
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- Parents whose children have been diagnosed with psychological or medical conditions.
- For the Child ACT Group:
- 1. Children who have been diagnosed with psychological or medical conditions.
- For both groups (Shared Exclusion criteria):
- Families who are unable or unwilling to commit to attending the six-week sessions or completing follow-up assessments.
- Families who lack access to transportation or other necessary resources to attend the intervention sessions
- Parents and children who cannot understand or communicate in the language used in the intervention and assessments (i.e., Cantonese and Chinese).
Trial locations and contacts
2 sites in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Hong Kong2 sites, 2 recruiting
- Recruiting
Harmony House Limited
Kwun Tong
Choi Hung TANG, (852) 3943 5016, choihungchtang227@cuhk.edu.hk
- Recruiting
Chinese University of Hong Kong
Shatin
Choi Hung TANG, (852) 3943 5016, choihungchtang227@cuhk.edu.hk
About this study
Official title: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-Based Training Programme for Reducing Parental Burnout and Improving Emotional and Behavioural Issues in Children: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial
The purpose of the proposed randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in reducing parental burnout and improving children's emotional and behavioral adjustment in families in Hong Kong over 3 months after the intervention. The findings will provide valuable and scientific insights to inform better parenting interventions and child protection policies.
Read the detailed description
Parental burnout is becoming more widely recognized as a serious social issue. It is particularly prevalent among high-stress families like those impacted by child maltreatment or domestic violence. According to prior research, psychological flexibility-a core component of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-is crucial for promoting healthy parent-child relationships and adaptive parenting practices. However, there is still a dearth of empirical evidence supporting ACT-based interventions for reducing parental burnout and improving child adjustment.
The purpose of this study is to investigate how ACT interventions differ in their impact on parents and children in Hong Kong. The specific aims are to evaluate the effectiveness of an ACT-based training program in lowering parental burnout and investigate its influence on children's emotional and behavioral adjustment.
Parents will participate in an ACT-based parenting training program designed to increase psychological flexibility in the ACT intervention group. Aiming at improving psychological flexibility and reducing parental burnout, the training program incorporates mindfulness, values-based parenting, and cognitive defusion strategies. It provides parents with the resources they require to manage stress, regulate emotions, and promote parent-child relationships, which benefits both themselves and their children.
To foster emotional regulation and resilience, children aged 6-11 will also participate in a group-based, child-focused ACT Program designed for their developmental needs. This program incorporates experiential learning exercises, mindfulness activities, and storytelling using picture books to facilitate participation and engagement. These child-focused components seek to reinforce the skills parents have learned while directly supporting child adjustment.
This study aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of a group-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention targeting. The intervention is designed to improve parental psychological flexibility and parenting behaviour, enhance parent- child relationships, and child-related outcomes within a separate sample of parents and children over the 3- month post-intervention. The study will be conducted in collaboration with Harmony Home Limited, leveraging the expertise of paraprofessionals trained in ACT.
- Conditions
- Child Abuse, Parental Burnout
- Being tested
- ACT Intervention Group, control group
- Keywords
- Child maltreatment, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Hong Kong, Parental burnout, Psychological flexibility, Feasibility, Acceptability, Child adjustment, Child emotion, Emotional development
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
ACT Intervention GroupBehavioural
For Parent ACT Group, parents will participate in a six-week, group-based ACT program integrated with behavioral parenting training based on positive parenting principles. Each session lasts two hours and includes 65 minutes of ACT-based activities (e.g., experiential exercises, guided imagery, mindfulness, values clarification, metaphors) and 25 minutes of parenting education and/or behavioral skills training.
For Children ACT Group, children (aged 6-11) will also receive a child-focused ACT intervention to help them manage emotional challenges. Each session lasts two hours and includes 65 minutes of ACT-based activities (e.g., experiential exercises, guided imagery, mindfulness, values clarification, metaphors) and 25 minutes of behavioral skills training.
control groupOther
Participants allocated to the Control Group will not receive the ACT intervention but will continue to receive the standard services originally provided by Harmony House. These services constitute usual care and include initial assessments, individual counselling, group counselling, the provision of community resource information, and referrals. Control group participants will receive these supports as usual. This study will not alter their existing service arrangements in any way, nor will it add to or reduce the support they receive.
Aside from not participating in the ACT program, the control group's experience will be identical to that of clients receiving regular services. After the intervention group completes the program, the control group will be offered the same course content (i.e., a waitlist intervention arrangement).
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| ACT Intervention Group | Experimental | Both ACT Intervention and the Control Group will receive standard services originally provided by Harmony House. For parents allocated to this experimental group, 6 sessions of the ACT-based parenting program, one weekly session, 90 minutes per session. For children allocated to this experimental group, 6 sessions of the child-focused ACT programme, one weekly session, 90 minutes per session. Receives: Behavioral: ACT Intervention Group |
| Control Group | Other | Participants allocated to the Control Group will not receive the ACT intervention during the initial 3-month study period but will be offered the intervention afterward as part of a waitlist control design. Receives: Other: control group |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Parental Burnout
The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA, 23-item, 7-point Likert scale) will be employed to evaluate the level of parental burnout. The Chinese version of PBA has reported good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = >.8), adequate construct validity (.66~.79), and strong convergent validity in Chinese parents.
Measured: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Children's emotional and behavioral adjustment
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, 25-item, 3-point Likert scale) will be used to assess children's emotional and behavioral adjustment. The Chinese version of SDQ demonstrates satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .45-.90) and good test-retest reliability (coefficients = 0.8 to 0.85).
Measured: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Secondary outcomes (4)
Parental Psychological flexibility
Parental Psychological Flexibility Questionnaire (PPFQ, 16-item, 7-point Likert scale) will be employed to measure parents' psychological flexibility. The PPFQ measures psychological flexibility using three subscales: cognitive defusion, committed action, and acceptance. The total and each subscale scores of the Chinese version of PPFQ have demonstrated substantial discriminant and criterion validity and internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .77-.86), and test-retest reliability coefficients ranging from 0.55 to 0.75.
Measured: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Children's psychological flexibility
Child and Adolescent Mindfulness Measure (CAMM, 10-item, 5-point Likert scale) will be used to assess children's psychological flexibility through children's self-reports. Grounded in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), it measures present-moment awareness and non-judgmental acceptance of thoughts and feelings. The Chinese version of CAMM demonstrates good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .826) and strong construct validity and acceptable criterion-related validity among Chinese primary school students.
Measured: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Adaptive parenting behaviors
Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale (IM-P, 31-item, 5-point Likert scale), a parent self-report measure, will be employed to measure adaptive parenting behaviors. The IM-P assesses five dimensions: Listening with Full Attention, Emotional Awareness of Self and Child, Self-Regulation in Parenting, Non-Judgmental Acceptance of Self and Child, and Compassion for Self and Child. The Chinese version of the IM-P was found to have adequate internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.85) and has been demonstrated to be a valid measure among Chinese populations.
Measured: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Parent-Child Relationship Quality
Child-Parent Relationship Scale-Short Form (CPRS-SF, 15-item, 5-point Likert scale), a parent self-report measure, will be used to assess the quality of the parent- child relationship. The Chinese version of CPRS-SF assesses child-parent relationships across two subscales: conflict and closeness. The internal consistency of the subscales is typically reported as being in the range of 0.70 to 0.90, indicating good reliability.
Measured: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted2 Jul 2025
- Study start22 Apr 2025
- Primary completion30 Apr 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Apr 2028 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Child AbuseStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Chinese University of Hong KongThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
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
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Model description
- Parallel Assignment; Repeated measures (baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up) 2-arm randomized controlled trial
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 120 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Chinese University of Hong Kong
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Harmony House, Hong Kong Jockey Club
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Yuen Yu CHONG, Chinese University of Hong Kong
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07047378
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- NTEC-2025-184
- Status last verified
- Jul 2025
- First submitted
- 24 Jun 2025
- Last updated
- 10 Jul 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: As participants were not asked to provide consent for sharing their individual data with external researchers, IPD cannot be made available.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 10 Jul 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-Based Training Programme for Reducing Parental Burnout and Improving Emotional and Behavioural Issues in Children: A Pilot Randomised Controlled Trial
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07047378
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- NTEC-2025-184
- Conditions
- Child Abuse, Parental Burnout
- Keywords
- Child maltreatment, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), Hong Kong, Parental burnout, Psychological flexibility, Feasibility, Acceptability, Child adjustment
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 120 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Chinese University of Hong KongUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Harmony House, Hong Kong Jockey Club
- Study start
- 22 Apr 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 30 Apr 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 Apr 2028 (estimated)
- First posted
- 2 Jul 2025 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The purpose of the proposed randomized controlled trial is to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability, and potential effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) in reducing parental burnout and improving children's emotional and behavioral adjustment in families in Hong Kong over 3 months after the intervention. The findings will provide valuable and scientific insights to inform better parenting interventions and child protection policies.
Detailed description
Parental burnout is becoming more widely recognized as a serious social issue. It is particularly prevalent among high-stress families like those impacted by child maltreatment or domestic violence. According to prior research, psychological flexibility-a core component of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)-is crucial for promoting healthy parent-child relationships and adaptive parenting practices. However, there is still a dearth of empirical evidence supporting ACT-based interventions for reducing parental burnout and improving child adjustment.
The purpose of this study is to investigate how ACT interventions differ in their impact on parents and children in Hong Kong. The specific aims are to evaluate the effectiveness of an ACT-based training program in lowering parental burnout and investigate its influence on children's emotional and behavioral adjustment.
Parents will participate in an ACT-based parenting training program designed to increase psychological flexibility in the ACT intervention group. Aiming at improving psychological flexibility and reducing parental burnout, the training program incorporates mindfulness, values-based parenting, and cognitive defusion strategies. It provides parents with the resources they require to manage stress, regulate emotions, and promote parent-child relationships, which benefits both themselves and their children.
To foster emotional regulation and resilience, children aged 6-11 will also participate in a group-based, child-focused ACT Program designed for their developmental needs. This program incorporates experiential learning exercises, mindfulness activities, and storytelling using picture books to facilitate participation and engagement. These child-focused components seek to reinforce the skills parents have learned while directly supporting child adjustment.
This study aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and potential efficacy of a group-based Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) intervention targeting. The intervention is designed to improve parental psychological flexibility and parenting behaviour, enhance parent- child relationships, and child-related outcomes within a separate sample of parents and children over the 3- month post-intervention. The study will be conducted in collaboration with Harmony Home Limited, leveraging the expertise of paraprofessionals trained in ACT.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
- Model description
- Parallel Assignment; Repeated measures (baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up) 2-arm randomized controlled trial
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| ACT Intervention Group | Experimental | Behavioral: ACT Intervention GroupBoth ACT Intervention and the Control Group will receive standard services originally provided by Harmony House. For parents allocated to this experimental group, 6 sessions of the ACT-based parenting program, one weekly session, 90 minutes per session. For children allocated to this experimental group, 6 sessions of the child-focused ACT programme, one weekly session, 90 minutes per session. |
| Control Group | Other | Other: control groupParticipants allocated to the Control Group will not receive the ACT intervention during the initial 3-month study period but will be offered the intervention afterward as part of a waitlist control design. |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 3 to 65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (10 listed)
- Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents between the ages of 19 and 65 years.
- Primary caregivers of a child aged 3 to 11 years.
- Have been identified by school social workers as being at risk of domestic violence or experiencing emotional distress.
- Cantonese-speaking Hong Kong residents between the ages of 3 and 11 years.
- Have been identified by school social workers as being at risk of domestic violence or experiencing emotional distress.
Key exclusion criteria (13 listed)
- Parents diagnosed with severe mental illnesses.
- Parents with a developmental disability that interferes with their ability to comprehend the program's content.
- Parents with cognitive, language, communication, visual, or hearing impairments or disorders that could impede their understanding of the intervention content; or
- Parents currently participate in other psychosocial, psychoeducational, or parenting interventions.
- Parents with active substance abuse issues that may interfere with their ability to participate in or benefit from the program.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| ACT Intervention GroupFor Parent ACT Group, parents will participate in a six-week, group-based ACT program integrated with behavioral parenting training based on positive parenting principles. Each session lasts two hours and includes 65 minutes of ACT-based activities (e.g., experiential exercises, guided imagery, mindfulness, values clarification, metaphors) and 25 minutes of parenting education and/or behavioral skills training. For Children ACT Group, children (aged 6-11) will also receive a child-focused ACT intervention to help them manage emotional challenges. Each session lasts two hours and includes 65 minutes of ACT-based activities (e.g., experiential exercises, guided imagery, mindfulness, values clarification, metaphors) and 25 minutes of behavioral skills training. | Behavioural | ACT Intervention Group |
| control groupParticipants allocated to the Control Group will not receive the ACT intervention but will continue to receive the standard services originally provided by Harmony House. These services constitute usual care and include initial assessments, individual counselling, group counselling, the provision of community resource information, and referrals. Control group participants will receive these supports as usual. This study will not alter their existing service arrangements in any way, nor will it add to or reduce the support they receive. Aside from not participating in the ACT program, the control group's experience will be identical to that of clients receiving regular services. After the intervention group completes the program, the control group will be offered the same course content (i.e., a waitlist intervention arrangement). | Other | Control Group |
Primary outcome
Parental Burnout
Time frame: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
The Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA, 23-item, 7-point Likert scale) will be employed to evaluate the level of parental burnout. The Chinese version of PBA has reported good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = >.8), adequate construct validity (.66~.79), and strong convergent validity in Chinese parents.
Children's emotional and behavioral adjustment
Time frame: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ, 25-item, 3-point Likert scale) will be used to assess children's emotional and behavioral adjustment. The Chinese version of SDQ demonstrates satisfactory internal consistency (Cronbach's α = .45-.90) and good test-retest reliability (coefficients = 0.8 to 0.85).
4 secondary outcomes
Parental Psychological flexibility
Time frame: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Children's psychological flexibility
Time frame: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Adaptive parenting behaviors
Time frame: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Parent-Child Relationship Quality
Time frame: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 10 Jul 2025.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. As participants were not asked to provide consent for sharing their individual data with external researchers, IPD cannot be made available.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
2 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing ACT Intervention Group in people with Child Abuse and Parental Burnout, run by Chinese University of Hong Kong at 2 sites in Hong Kong.
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 10 inclusion and 13 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: looking for participants now, as of the sponsor's last update on 10 Jul 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 2 sites in Hong Kong. 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?
Contact Yuen Yu CHONG, PhD ((852) 3943 0665, conniechong@cuhk.edu.hk), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Parental Burnout (time frame: Change from baseline assessment to immediate and 3 months post-intervention). 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?
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 10 Jul 2025.