Parenting SkillsBBFWNCT07351630
Building Blocks for Child and Family Well-being
A study testing Building Blocks for Family Well-being in people with Parenting Skills and Family Well-being, run by York University at 2 sites in Canada.
Trial summary
Background. Understanding emotions, stress, and conflicts within the family context is critical for promoting positive change. However, most support services for families often address child development, parenting, couple relationships separately without considering these as interacting systems that contributes to… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 18 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Parenting Skills, Family Well-being, Family Cohesion
- What is being tested?
- Building Blocks for Family Well-being
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 32 participants
- Where
- 2 sitesCanada
- Study dates
- 20 Oct 2025to 30 Nov 2026
- 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 18 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- Caregivers aged 18 years or older participating in the BBFW program at York Univeristy's Psychology Clinic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- Caregivers with children 18 years old or under are eligible to participate in the BBFW program.
- Caregivers must be residing in Ontario at the time of their service.
- Caregivers must also have access to a digital device with a screen (e.g., phone, tablet, computer) that can be used for virtual services.
Who cannot join
- Caregivers who do not consent to participate in research.
- Caregivers whose children are older than 18 years old.
Trial locations and contacts
2 sites in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Canada2 sites, 2 recruiting
- Not yet recruiting
York University,
Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3
Heather Prime, PhD, 416-736-5117, hprime@yorku.ca
Truong Phuong Anh Nguyen, BA, 647-892-5519, anhtpng@yorku.ca
- Recruiting
York University Psychology Clinic
Toronto, Ontario
Jessica Westcott, (416) 650-8488, schroede@yorku.ca
About this study
Official title: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Program Evaluation of A Parent Group to Support Child and Family Well-being
Background. Understanding emotions, stress, and conflicts within the family context is critical for promoting positive change. However, most support services for families often address child development, parenting, couple relationships separately without considering these as interacting systems that contributes to overall family well-being. This project is to evaluate an existing clinical service in York University Psychology Clinic (YUPC), "Building Blocks for Child and Family Well-being" (BBFW), which provides an integrated understanding of the family context, and equips caregivers with tools to help families connect, problem-solve, cope with stress, and thrive. BBFW is a brief virtual program that promotes experiential learning, provides individually tailored strategies, and builds a community of support for caregivers. The current study aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the BBFW program within the York University Psychology Clinic (YUPC), with four objectives:
- Evaluating the feasibility of implementing the BBWF program into YUPC clinical services, represented by enrolment rates, sample characteristics, retention (i.e., number of sessions attended, % dropout), adherence (i.e., completing in- and out-of-session activities), as well as the acceptability of the program among participants.
- Examining sample and clinical characteristics of those attending the BBFW service
- Exploring the effectiveness of the BBFW program through changes in family functioning and meta-emotion philosophy from pre- to post-intervention, as well as changes at 1- and 3-month follow-ups.
- Evaluating and refining the program quality using participant quantitative and qualitative feedback.
The BBFW program is based on the best evidence from developmental, family, and relationship science. It aims to support family mental health and well-being through a holistic and sustainable approach, viewing the family as a set of multiple, interdependent systems. This program provides a brief, cost-effective, and accessible alternative with the potential to reduce the burden on traditional mental health and support services for Canadian families.
- Conditions
- Parenting Skills, Family Well-being, Family Cohesion
- Being tested
- Building Blocks for Family Well-being
- Keywords
- Program Evaluation, Family Systems, Feasibility Study, Parenting Intervention, Caregivers, Parents
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
Building Blocks for Family Well-beingBehavioural
BBFW is a 6-week brief virtual program that promotes experiential learning, provides individually tailored strategies, and builds a community of support for caregivers. The program provides an integrated understanding of the family context, and equips caregivers with tools to help families connect, problem-solve, cope with stress, and thrive. The following topics are covered over 6 weeks: Introduction to the model; Getting to Know Your Family Members (e.g., temperament); Supporting Child Emotions; Promoting Positive Behaviours; Limit-Setting and Sibling Dynamics; Parenting Teams and Wrap-Up.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Experimental: Parent Skills Group Program | Experimental | Caregivers who take part in a 6-week group program on parenting skills Receives: Behavioral: Building Blocks for Family Well-being |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Participants Enrolled Per month
Number of participants enrolled per month.
Measured: Week 0
Geographic Reach
Cities/towns in Ontario families accessing the program reside. Data will be collected through the demographic questionnaire administered at baseline.
Measured: Week 0
Retention
The percentage of participants who remain in study until the end of the follow up session.
Measured: Week 0 to Week 18
Adherence
Number of sessions attended.
Measured: Week 1 to Week 6
Adherence
Completion rate of in session activities.
Measured: Week 6
Child Age Groups
Mean age of child of the parent who is seeking service. Data will be collected through the demographic questionnaire administered at baseline.
Measured: Week 0
Primary Presenting Concern
Primary presenting concern of parent who is seeking service, collected at baseline using demographic questionnaire. Options include: child emotion regulation; child behavioural problems; challenging siblings dynamics; challenging co-parenting dynamics (working as a team with second parent); family stress, chaos, and/or conflict; other [please specify].
Measured: Week 0
Family Clinical Characteristics
Family Clinical Characteristics include parent relationship dimension. The Relationship Dimension Scale (Lafrance, Henderson, \& Mayman, 2020) is a 14-item tool for parents to reflect on different aspect of their relationships with their child/children. This is a qualitative measure that will be examined for themes arising in participating caregivers.
Measured: Week 2
Family Clinical Characteristics
Family Clinical Characteristics include parent stress. The Family Stress Checklist includes 35 items which measures a parent's level of stress in 7 areas (i.e., financial, professional, physical, relational, environmental, child, parenting, discrimination). Each item is rated on a 5-item scale. Mean of items in each area will be calculated, with minimum score=1, maximum score=5. Higher scores correspond to higher level of stress in each area.
Measured: Week 1
Client Satisfaction
Client Satisfaction will be measured using surveys and participant qualitative feedback. A brief satisfaction survey will be administered weekly at the end of each group session. This survey consists of 4 questions about the content, facilitation, group activities/discussion, as well as an open-ended question for general feedback about the session. In the end, participant will be asked to complete another satisfaction survey about the program overall. Means of the survey items will be calculated. Minimum score=1, maximum score=4. Higher scores correspond to higher satisfaction.
Measured: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6
Client Acceptability
Percentage of participants reporting at least 'good' on 80 % or more indicators on an Implementation Acceptability Scale that will assess attitude, burden, perceived effectiveness, and ethicality. Minimum score=7, maximum score=35. Higher scores correspond to better outcomes.
Measured: Week 6
Secondary outcomes (2)
Pre-Post Change in Parent Reported Family Functioning
Changes in Family Functioning will be assessed using the McMaster Family Assessment Device (FAD; Epstein et al., 1983). The scale has 60 items representing 7 subscales: Problem Solving, Communication, Roles, Affective Responsiveness, Affective Involvement, Behavior Control, General Functioning. Each item is rated on 4 point scale. Mean of each subscale will be calculated. For each subscale, minimum score=1, maximum score=4. Higher scores correspond to worse outcomes (i.e., less healthy family functioning).
Measured: Changes from Week 0 to Week 6; from Week 0 to Week 10; from Week 0 to Week 18
Pre-Post Change in Parent Meta-Emotion Philosophy
Changes in Parent Meta-Emotion Philosophy will be assessed using the Emotion-Related Parenting Styles Scale-Short Form (ERPS-SF; Paterson et al., 2012).
The scale has 20 items, each rated on a 5-point Likert Scale. Mean of items representing 4 parenting styles will be calculated. For each parenting style, minimum score=1, maximum score=5. The style with highest average score indicates the participant's emotion-related parenting style.
Measured: Changes from Week 0 to Week 6; from Week 0 to Week 10; from Week 0 to Week 18
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted20 Jan 2026
- Study start20 Oct 2025
- Primary completion30 Nov 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion30 Nov 2026 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (4)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Parenting SkillsStudies 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
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 32 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- York University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, Heather Prime, York University
- Investigators
- Heather Prime, PhD, Principal investigator, York University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07351630
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 4745
- Acronym
- BBFW
- Status last verified
- Jan 2026
- First submitted
- 27 Nov 2025
- Last updated
- 20 Jan 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Philipp DA, Prime H, Darwiche J. An ultra-brief systemic intervention to address child mental health symptomatology. Fam Process. 2023 Jun;62(2):469-482. doi: 10.1111/famp.12875. Epub 2023 Mar 23.
PubMed 36959726Lafrance, A., Henderson, K. A., & Mayman, S. (2020). Emotion-focused family therapy: A transdiagnostic model for caregiver-focused interventions. American Psychological Association
Dishion TJ, Shaw D, Connell A, Gardner F, Weaver C, Wilson M. The family check-up with high-risk indigent families: preventing problem behavior by increasing parents' positive behavior support in early childhood. Child Dev. 2008 Sep-Oct;79(5):1395-414. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01195.x.
PubMed 18826532Bennett T, Georgiades K, Gonzalez A, Janus M, Lipman E, Pires P, Prime H, Duku E, Jambon M, McLennan JD, Gross J; Making the Race Fair Study Team. Targeted Child Mental Health Prevention and Parenting Support Within a Canadian Context: A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the U.S.-Developed Family Check-Up(R). Prev Sci. 2025 May;26(4):555-567. doi: 10.1007/s11121-024-01741-3. Epub 2024 Nov 22.
PubMed 39572487
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 20 Jan 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Feasibility, Acceptability, and Program Evaluation of A Parent Group to Support Child and Family Well-being
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07351630
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- BBFW / 4745
- Conditions
- Parenting Skills, Family Well-being, Family Cohesion
- Keywords
- Program Evaluation, Family Systems, Feasibility Study, Parenting Intervention, Caregivers, Parents
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Recruiting
- Enrolment
- 32 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- York UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- 20 Oct 2025 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 30 Nov 2026 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 30 Nov 2026 (estimated)
- First posted
- 20 Jan 2026 (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.
Background. Understanding emotions, stress, and conflicts within the family context is critical for promoting positive change. However, most support services for families often address child development, parenting, couple relationships separately without considering these as interacting systems that contributes to overall family well-being. This project is to evaluate an existing clinical service in York University Psychology Clinic (YUPC), "Building Blocks for Child and Family Well-being" (BBFW), which provides an integrated understanding of the family context, and equips caregivers with tools to help families connect, problem-solve, cope with stress, and thrive. BBFW is a brief virtual program that promotes experiential learning, provides individually tailored strategies, and builds a community of support for caregivers. The current study aims to examine the feasibility, acceptability, and effectiveness of the BBFW program within the York University Psychology Clinic (YUPC), with four objectives:
- Evaluating the feasibility of implementing the BBWF program into YUPC clinical services, represented by enrolment rates, sample characteristics, retention (i.e., number of sessions attended, % dropout), adherence (i.e., completing in- and out-of-session activities), as well as the acceptability of the program among participants.
- Examining sample and clinical characteristics of those attending the BBFW service
- Exploring the effectiveness of the BBFW program through changes in family functioning and meta-emotion philosophy from pre- to post-intervention, as well as changes at 1- and 3-month follow-ups.
- Evaluating and refining the program quality using participant quantitative and qualitative feedback.
The BBFW program is based on the best evidence from developmental, family, and relationship science. It aims to support family mental health and well-being through a holistic and sustainable approach, viewing the family as a set of multiple, interdependent systems. This program provides a brief, cost-effective, and accessible alternative with the potential to reduce the burden on traditional mental health and support services for Canadian families.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Not applicable
- Intervention model
- Single group
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 1
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Experimental: Parent Skills Group Program | Experimental | Behavioral: Building Blocks for Family Well-beingCaregivers who take part in a 6-week group program on parenting skills |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 18 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (4 listed)
- Caregivers aged 18 years or older participating in the BBFW program at York Univeristy's Psychology Clinic in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
- Caregivers with children 18 years old or under are eligible to participate in the BBFW program.
- Caregivers must be residing in Ontario at the time of their service.
- Caregivers must also have access to a digital device with a screen (e.g., phone, tablet, computer) that can be used for virtual services.
Key exclusion criteria (2 listed)
- Caregivers who do not consent to participate in research.
- Caregivers whose children are older than 18 years old.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| Building Blocks for Family Well-beingBBFW is a 6-week brief virtual program that promotes experiential learning, provides individually tailored strategies, and builds a community of support for caregivers. The program provides an integrated understanding of the family context, and equips caregivers with tools to help families connect, problem-solve, cope with stress, and thrive. The following topics are covered over 6 weeks: Introduction to the model; Getting to Know Your Family Members (e.g., temperament); Supporting Child Emotions; Promoting Positive Behaviours; Limit-Setting and Sibling Dynamics; Parenting Teams and Wrap-Up. | Behavioural | Experimental: Parent Skills Group Program |
Primary outcome
Participants Enrolled Per month
Time frame: Week 0
Number of participants enrolled per month.
Geographic Reach
Time frame: Week 0
Cities/towns in Ontario families accessing the program reside. Data will be collected through the demographic questionnaire administered at baseline.
Retention
Time frame: Week 0 to Week 18
The percentage of participants who remain in study until the end of the follow up session.
Adherence
Time frame: Week 1 to Week 6
Number of sessions attended.
Adherence
Time frame: Week 6
Completion rate of in session activities.
Child Age Groups
Time frame: Week 0
Mean age of child of the parent who is seeking service. Data will be collected through the demographic questionnaire administered at baseline.
Primary Presenting Concern
Time frame: Week 0
Primary presenting concern of parent who is seeking service, collected at baseline using demographic questionnaire. Options include: child emotion regulation; child behavioural problems; challenging siblings dynamics; challenging co-parenting dynamics (working as a team with second parent); family stress, chaos, and/or conflict; other [please specify].
Family Clinical Characteristics
Time frame: Week 2
Family Clinical Characteristics include parent relationship dimension. The Relationship Dimension Scale (Lafrance, Henderson, \& Mayman, 2020) is a 14-item tool for parents to reflect on different aspect of their relationships with their child/children. This is a qualitative measure that will be examined for themes arising in participating caregivers.
Family Clinical Characteristics
Time frame: Week 1
Family Clinical Characteristics include parent stress. The Family Stress Checklist includes 35 items which measures a parent's level of stress in 7 areas (i.e., financial, professional, physical, relational, environmental, child, parenting, discrimination). Each item is rated on a 5-item scale. Mean of items in each area will be calculated, with minimum score=1, maximum score=5. Higher scores correspond to higher level of stress in each area.
Client Satisfaction
Time frame: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6
Client Satisfaction will be measured using surveys and participant qualitative feedback. A brief satisfaction survey will be administered weekly at the end of each group session. This survey consists of 4 questions about the content, facilitation, group activities/discussion, as well as an open-ended question for general feedback about the session. In the end, participant will be asked to complete another satisfaction survey about the program overall. Means of the survey items will be calculated. Minimum score=1, maximum score=4. Higher scores correspond to higher satisfaction.
Client Acceptability
Time frame: Week 6
Percentage of participants reporting at least 'good' on 80 % or more indicators on an Implementation Acceptability Scale that will assess attitude, burden, perceived effectiveness, and ethicality. Minimum score=7, maximum score=35. Higher scores correspond to better outcomes.
2 secondary outcomes
Pre-Post Change in Parent Reported Family Functioning
Time frame: Changes from Week 0 to Week 6; from Week 0 to Week 10; from Week 0 to Week 18
Pre-Post Change in Parent Meta-Emotion Philosophy
Time frame: Changes from Week 0 to Week 6; from Week 0 to Week 10; from Week 0 to Week 18
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 20 Jan 2026.
- Background: PubMed 36959726Philipp DA, Prime H, Darwiche J. An ultra-brief systemic intervention to address child mental health symptomatology. Fam Process. 2023 Jun;62(2):469-482. doi: 10.1111/famp.12875. Epub 2023 Mar 23.
- BackgroundLafrance, A., Henderson, K. A., & Mayman, S. (2020). Emotion-focused family therapy: A transdiagnostic model for caregiver-focused interventions. American Psychological Association
- Background: PubMed 18826532Dishion TJ, Shaw D, Connell A, Gardner F, Weaver C, Wilson M. The family check-up with high-risk indigent families: preventing problem behavior by increasing parents' positive behavior support in early childhood. Child Dev. 2008 Sep-Oct;79(5):1395-414. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2008.01195.x.
- Background: PubMed 39572487Bennett T, Georgiades K, Gonzalez A, Janus M, Lipman E, Pires P, Prime H, Duku E, Jambon M, McLennan JD, Gross J; Making the Race Fair Study Team. Targeted Child Mental Health Prevention and Parenting Support Within a Canadian Context: A Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating the U.S.-Developed Family Check-Up(R). Prev Sci. 2025 May;26(4):555-567. doi: 10.1007/s11121-024-01741-3. Epub 2024 Nov 22.
- 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.
Heather Prime, PhD principal investigator
York University
2 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing Building Blocks for Family Well-being in people with Parenting Skills and Family Well-being, run by York University at 2 sites in Canada.
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 4 inclusion and 2 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 20 Jan 2026. 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 Canada. 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 Heather Prime, PhD (416-736-5117, hprime@yorku.ca), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Participants Enrolled Per month (time frame: Week 0). The study lists 11 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 NCT07351630, which also lists 4 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 20 Jan 2026.