A 3-Session parenting fix for child behavior problems?
NCT ID NCT05591820
First seen Aug 05, 2026 · Last updated Aug 06, 2026 · Updated 1 time
Summary
This trial tests whether a brief, individually tailored parent training program—just three sessions with optional boosters—can reduce behavioral difficulties in children aged 2 to 12, compared to usual care. Parents of children referred to mental health centers are randomly assigned to either the brief training or standard care. The study tracks changes in targeted behaviors, parenting stress, and child well-being over a year to see if the short program is effective and cost-effective.
What this could mean
Our plain-language read of the trial. This is informational only, not medical advice or a prediction.
- Active substance
- Brief behavioral parent training with optional booster sessions
- What this could lead to
- If effective, this brief, tailored training could make parent training more accessible and reduce waiting lists, helping more families manage children's behavioral difficulties.
- What could go wrong
- The training is brief and may not work for all families. Results are based on a relatively small group, and longer-term benefits are uncertain.
This is an AI summary of the original study and may miss details. Read our disclaimer.
Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Not a phased trial
Phase numbers describe drug development. The registry uses this when they do not apply, as it does for trials of devices, procedures or behaviour changes, and for observational studies.
- Participants
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About 93 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Started
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Oct 2022
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2026
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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Other sponsor
The registry's catch-all category, for sponsors it does not file as a company, a government agency, or a research network.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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2 to 11 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
Show the full entry requirements Hide the full entry requirements
Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * The child is aged between 2 and 12 years; * Parents have to identify at least four behavioral difficulties of the child that occur in the home setting and that they want to target in the training, using an adapted version of a list of target behaviors (Van den Hoofdakker et al., 2007; Hornstra et al., 2021). This list contains 29 behaviors that can be targeted in the training, such as hyperactive, impulsive, inattentive, oppositional and defiant behavior. The items are derived from target problems that parents mentioned in previous behavioral parent training groups and concern child behaviors that are commonly targeted in behavioral parent training in clinical practice, confirming ecological validity (Van den Hoofdakker et al., 2007). Exclusion Criteria: * The child uses psychotropic medication (currently or in the month before the screening); * The child has at any time received a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in clinical practice, as (parents of) children with ASD may have different needs and therefore may require different treatments than children with behavioral difficulties without ASD; * The child has a known IQ-score below 70, as (parents of) children with intellectual disabilities may have different needs and therefore may require different treatments than children with behavioral difficulties and typical intellectual abilities; * Parents received behavioral parent training aimed at reducing the behavioral difficulties of the concerned child in the year prior to the start of the study; * It is not a suitable period for the parents and/or the child to participate in the study (e.g., moving, divorce); * The child is not living in the same household as the parent(s) who participate(s) in the trial during at least four weekdays (to ensure that our primary outcome can be reported by the same informant(s) and that parents can apply the intervention plans at home).
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Accare
RECRUITINGGroningen, Provincie Groningen, 9723 HE, Netherlands
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