Family ConflictFamilyTraumaNCT07134322
From Conflict to Family Trauma
An observational study of Family Conflict and Family Characteristics, run by University of Bari Aldo Moro.
Trial summary
This project will examine the experience of the researcher as expert in the family court dealing with questions regarding family units, in conflict and children, victims of the family conflict, victims of abuse and neglect, often repeated over time.After the first consultation, family conflict often recurs, without… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Any ageHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Family Conflict, Family Characteristics, Family Dysfunctional
- What is being tested?
- The aim of this research is to record how many families go to court for the breakdown of parent-child relationships and to understand how many of these families, one year after the judge's ruling, hav
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- How many people
- 200 participants
- Where
- No sites listed yet
- Study dates
- 8 Feb 2026to 20 Dec 2026
- How long will I take part?
- 12 Months
- Phase
- Observational
- 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
Study population: All families in conflict with minor children who appear in court between January 2021 and December 2023 due to a breakdown in parent-child relationships.
Who may be able to join
- Families with minor children who file a lawsuit
- Parent-child relationships must have been severed with at least one parent.
Who cannot join
- Families with adult children
Trial locations and contacts
No sites are listed yet. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
About this study
Official title: From Conflict to Family Trauma - A Longitudinal Research for the Development of Best Practices in the Italian Legal System
This project will examine the experience of the researcher as expert in the family court dealing with questions regarding family units, in conflict and children, victims of the family conflict, victims of abuse and neglect, often repeated over time.After the first consultation, family conflict often recurs, without regard for the treatment received, returning to the civil courts and sometimes to the criminal courts. There are three possibilities at this point, following the first decision of the court (a) there is a separation that resolves conflicts and leads to an improvement in outcomes for the children concerned; (b) pre-existing conditions specific to the children concerned continue, and the decision of the court regading separation has no effect; (c) conflict between the parents continues, with repeated returns to the civil courts, failure of processes of mediation and negotiation, and continuing or exacerbated trauma to the child leading to worse outcomes; (d) where there is a worse outcome, this may be due to the lack of supports following the expert psychological assessment and recommendation to the court..The forensic evaluation of the family often refers the family to public health services for therapeutic interventions and social supports. The lack of these interventions and supports of public health services may exacerbate the family trauma. This may occur (a) because the family conflict continues in the absence of the interventions and supports; (b) because the family trauma is exacerbated by continuing court proceedings because the conflict between parents concerning the care and placement of the children leads to prolonged legal proceedings and may result in worse outcomes for the children, such as criminal behaviour as this struggle continues. The child is 'instrumentalised', used as a pawn or weapon in the struggle between the parents. The research project aims first of all to outline, on the basis of the data to be acquired, (a) whether there is evidence that the decision of the court guided by the expert opinion and recommendations has a beneficial effect on outcomes for the child; (b) specific lines of treatment intervention and better packages of care and support to enhance good outcomes and minimise or prevent these adverse outcomes, under the supervision of the judge.
Read the detailed description
This research project aims, to analyze the current practices and processes and to hypothesize possible support systems or the possibility of using existing resources with an element of training for clinicians, staff and experts.
Detailed Description This research project aims, to analyze the current practices and processes and to hypothesize possible support systems or the possibility of using existing resources with an element of training for clinicians, staff and experts.Furthermore, this research project aims to understand if certain characteristics of the members of the family unit or of the family unit as a system statistically influence the outcome of the treatment; understand if there is a need to create different support strategies for extreme conflict; to mobilise the support of lawyers, in order to actively involve them in the research project and together with the lawyers and the social services, find resolution strategies for this problem.
The project includes two phases of implementation:The first will concern, in agreement with the Ministry of Justice, the local public health and social services, the University and the Puglia Region Authority, the detection, starting from time T0 of all the family units that access the judicial system for the resolution of family disputes for which the assistance of an expert consultant is necessary to support the Judge in managing the dispute; this will include all the judicial offices belonging to the District of the Court of Appeal of Bari; the support will be sought of the specialist lawyers in the field who will join the research project and direct access to the files of the various Courts.This first phase, lasting a total of eighteen months, includes an initial period dedicated preliminarily to training/information on the data collection methods of the judicial office staff, jurists and experts of the public services involved in the research.
- Being tested
- The aim of this research is to record how many families go to court for the breakdown of parent-child relationships and to understand how many of these families, one year after the judge's ruling, hav
- Keywords
- Family Trauma, Higth Conflict, Therapeutic Jurisprudence
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
The aim of this research is to record how many families go to court for the breakdown of parent-child relationships and to understand how many of these families, one year after the judge's ruling, havBehavioural
This is the first qualitative and quantitative study on conflict-ridden families who go to court and involve social and psychological support services.
Furthermore, the survey will provide precise data on the extent of the phenomenon being investigated.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| The study involves conflictual families who resort to the Court to restore parent-child relationship | Not described Receives: Behavioral: The aim of this research is to record how many families go to court for the breakdown of parent-child relationships and to understand how many of these families, one year after the judge's ruling, hav |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Number of families with resolved conflict at 12 months
Data collection to determine whether, one year after the judge's ruling that found the parent-child relationship to be broken, the family conflict has been resolved and whether family ties have been restored. Specifically, through the court files of the Bari Court of Appeal district, the lawyers handling the case, and the public services appointed by the court to initiate the process of restoring family ties, we will identify how many family law cases, one year after treatment, have successfully resolved the issue of restoring the previously broken parent-child relationship and how many, however, remain unresolved.
In particular:
Time Frame: 12 months after baseline (T0) Description: Families in which the interventions indicated by the judge (e.g., mediation, therapy, parenting support) resulted in the resolution of parental conflict, confirmed by the absence of further court proceedings.
Unit of Measure: Number of families
Measured: 1 year
Number of children no longer involved in family conflict at 12 months
To determine how many minors, one year later, are still involved in family conflict and how many of these minors have developed psychological problems related to the ongoing family conflict. This data will be collected by consulting the court files of the Bari Court of Appeal District, the lawyers participating in the research, and the public services that, at the judge's direction, have taken charge of the complex family situation.
In particular:
Time Frame: 12 months after baseline (T0) Description: Children who are no longer directly involved in parental conflict, demonstrated by restored relationships with both parents or stabilization of custody and living arrangements.
Unit of Measure: Number of children
Measured: 1 year
Secondary outcomes (2)
Number of children with restored parent-child relationship at 12 months
Time Frame: 12 months after baseline (T0) Description: Children who re-established a functional relationship with the previously absent or rejected parent, which was the initial reason for the judicial proceeding.
Unit of Measure: Number of children
Measured: 12 months
Percentage of families complying with therapeutic or mediation recommendations at 12 months
Families who completed at least one of the interventions recommended by the judge (e.g., therapy, mediation, parenting programs).
Measured: 12 months after baseline (T0)
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted21 Aug 2025
- Study start8 Feb 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion8 Aug 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion20 Dec 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Family ConflictStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- 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
- Observational
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Enrolment
- 200 participants (estimated)
- Target duration
- 12 Months
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- University of Bari Aldo Moro
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of Roma La Sapienza
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Lia Parente, University of Bari Aldo Moro
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07134322
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- UniBa - UniSapienza
- Acronym
- FamilyTrauma
- Status last verified
- Aug 2025
- First submitted
- 7 Aug 2025
- Last updated
- 21 Aug 2025
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 21 Aug 2025. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- From Conflict to Family Trauma - A Longitudinal Research for the Development of Best Practices in the Italian Legal System
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07134322
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- FamilyTrauma / UniBa - UniSapienza
- Keywords
- Family Trauma, Higth Conflict, Therapeutic Jurisprudence
- Study type
- Observational
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 200 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- University of Bari Aldo MoroUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- University of Roma La Sapienza
- Study start
- 8 Feb 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 8 Aug 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 20 Dec 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 21 Aug 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.
This project will examine the experience of the researcher as expert in the family court dealing with questions regarding family units, in conflict and children, victims of the family conflict, victims of abuse and neglect, often repeated over time.After the first consultation, family conflict often recurs, without regard for the treatment received, returning to the civil courts and sometimes to the criminal courts. There are three possibilities at this point, following the first decision of the court (a) there is a separation that resolves conflicts and leads to an improvement in outcomes for the children concerned; (b) pre-existing conditions specific to the children concerned continue, and the decision of the court regading separation has no effect; (c) conflict between the parents continues, with repeated returns to the civil courts, failure of processes of mediation and negotiation, and continuing or exacerbated trauma to the child leading to worse outcomes; (d) where there is a worse outcome, this may be due to the lack of supports following the expert psychological assessment and recommendation to the court..The forensic evaluation of the family often refers the family to public health services for therapeutic interventions and social supports. The lack of these interventions and supports of public health services may exacerbate the family trauma. This may occur (a) because the family conflict continues in the absence of the interventions and supports; (b) because the family trauma is exacerbated by continuing court proceedings because the conflict between parents concerning the care and placement of the children leads to prolonged legal proceedings and may result in worse outcomes for the children, such as criminal behaviour as this struggle continues. The child is 'instrumentalised', used as a pawn or weapon in the struggle between the parents. The research project aims first of all to outline, on the basis of the data to be acquired, (a) whether there is evidence that the decision of the court guided by the expert opinion and recommendations has a beneficial effect on outcomes for the child; (b) specific lines of treatment intervention and better packages of care and support to enhance good outcomes and minimise or prevent these adverse outcomes, under the supervision of the judge.
Detailed description
This research project aims, to analyze the current practices and processes and to hypothesize possible support systems or the possibility of using existing resources with an element of training for clinicians, staff and experts.
Detailed Description This research project aims, to analyze the current practices and processes and to hypothesize possible support systems or the possibility of using existing resources with an element of training for clinicians, staff and experts.Furthermore, this research project aims to understand if certain characteristics of the members of the family unit or of the family unit as a system statistically influence the outcome of the treatment; understand if there is a need to create different support strategies for extreme conflict; to mobilise the support of lawyers, in order to actively involve them in the research project and together with the lawyers and the social services, find resolution strategies for this problem.
The project includes two phases of implementation:The first will concern, in agreement with the Ministry of Justice, the local public health and social services, the University and the Puglia Region Authority, the detection, starting from time T0 of all the family units that access the judicial system for the resolution of family disputes for which the assistance of an expert consultant is necessary to support the Judge in managing the dispute; this will include all the judicial offices belonging to the District of the Court of Appeal of Bari; the support will be sought of the specialist lawyers in the field who will join the research project and direct access to the files of the various Courts.This first phase, lasting a total of eighteen months, includes an initial period dedicated preliminarily to training/information on the data collection methods of the judicial office staff, jurists and experts of the public services involved in the research.
Study design
- Observational model
- Cohort
- Time perspective
- Prospective
- Target follow-up
- 12 Months
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| The study involves conflictual families who resort to the Court to restore parent-child relationship | – | Behavioral: The aim of this research is to record how many families go to court for the breakdown of parent-child relationships and to understand how many of these families, one year after the judge's ruling, hav |
Who may qualify
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
- Study population
- All families in conflict with minor children who appear in court between January 2021 and December 2023 due to a breakdown in parent-child relationships.
Key inclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Families with minor children who file a lawsuit
- Parent-child relationships must have been severed with at least one parent.
Key exclusion criteria (1 listed)
- Families with adult children
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 |
|---|---|---|
| The aim of this research is to record how many families go to court for the breakdown of parent-child relationships and to understand how many of these families, one year after the judge's ruling, havThis is the first qualitative and quantitative study on conflict-ridden families who go to court and involve social and psychological support services. Furthermore, the survey will provide precise data on the extent of the phenomenon being investigated. | Behavioural | The study involves conflictual families who resort to the Court to restore parent-child relationship |
Primary outcome
Number of families with resolved conflict at 12 months
Time frame: 1 year
Data collection to determine whether, one year after the judge's ruling that found the parent-child relationship to be broken, the family conflict has been resolved and whether family ties have been restored. Specifically, through the court files of the Bari Court of Appeal district, the lawyers handling the case, and the public services appointed by the court to initiate the process of restoring family ties, we will identify how many family law cases, one year after treatment, have successfully resolved the issue of restoring the previously broken parent-child relationship and how many, however, remain unresolved. In particular: Time Frame: 12 months after baseline (T0) Description: Families in which the interventions indicated by the judge (e.g., mediation, therapy, parenting support) resulted in the resolution of parental conflict, confirmed by the absence of further court proceedings. Unit of Measure: Number of families
Number of children no longer involved in family conflict at 12 months
Time frame: 1 year
To determine how many minors, one year later, are still involved in family conflict and how many of these minors have developed psychological problems related to the ongoing family conflict. This data will be collected by consulting the court files of the Bari Court of Appeal District, the lawyers participating in the research, and the public services that, at the judge's direction, have taken charge of the complex family situation. In particular: Time Frame: 12 months after baseline (T0) Description: Children who are no longer directly involved in parental conflict, demonstrated by restored relationships with both parents or stabilization of custody and living arrangements. Unit of Measure: Number of children
2 secondary outcomes
Number of children with restored parent-child relationship at 12 months
Time frame: 12 months
Percentage of families complying with therapeutic or mediation recommendations at 12 months
Time frame: 12 months after baseline (T0)
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 21 Aug 2025.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
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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.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
An observational study of Family Conflict and Family Characteristics, run by University of Bari Aldo Moro.
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 2 inclusion and 1 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: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 21 Aug 2025. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
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 Lia Parente, Forensic Psychology (+39 3406671553, lia.parente@uniroma1.it), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Number of families with resolved conflict at 12 months (time frame: 1 year). 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 21 Aug 2025; AzTrials last refreshed its copy on 6 Nov 2026.