Recruiting

Hybrid & Online

Sponsor:

Penn State University

Code:

NCT06823518

Conditions

Child Maltreatment

Parenting

Child Wellbeing

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Thrive Initiative Parent-Education Programming

Study Details

Brief summary:

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Thrive Initiative's parent-education program delivery methods by comparing hybrid (i.e., a combination of online and group components) program delivery to online-only program delivery. The Thrive Initiative consists of four, universal parent-education programs that correpsond to specific child developmental periods. These programs inlcude: Take Root for parents/caregivers of 0-3-year-old children; Sprout for parents/caregivers of 3-5-year-old children; Grow for parents/caregivres of 5-10-year-old children; and Branch Out for parents/caregivers of 10-18-year-old children. The effectiveness of delivery method will be examined for each program. Eligible participants for this study will be United States Air Force service members or dependents who are caregivers of a child 0-18 years old. The study will involve randomization to condition meaning that participants will be assigned to the online-only or hybrid program delivery condition by chance.

Conditions

Child Maltreatment

Parenting

Child Wellbeing

Study ID

NCT06823518

Start date

Mar 31, 2026

Status verified date

Apr, 2026

Completion date

Dec 31, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun 1, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • United States Air Force service member or dependent
  • Parent/caregiver of a child 0-18 years old
  • 18 years of age or older
  • Willing to participate in the research study
  • Has access to technology that will enable them to receive and respond to various technological aspects of the Thrive Initiative programs and research study
  • Able to speak and understand English proficiently
  • Able to understand and give consent

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Not an United States Air Force service member or dependent
  • Not a parent/caregiver of a child 0-18 years old
  • 17 years of age or younger
  • Unwilling to participate in the research study
  • Does not have access to technology that will enable them to receive and respond to various technological aspects of the Thrive Initiative programs and research study
  • Unable to speak and understand English proficiently
  • Unable to understand and give consent

Study Design

Enrollment

480 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Online-Only Thrive Inititaive Parent-Education Programming Condition

This arm involves the online-only versions of the Thrive Initiative parent-education programs.

experimental: Hybrid Thrive Initiative Parent-Education Programming Condition

This arm involves the hybrid version of the Thrive Initiative parent-education programs. The hybrid version includes the online version and weekly group meetings that can occur in-person or virtually.

Interventions

Thrive Initiative Parent-Education Programming

The Thrive Initiative Parent-Education programs are universal prevention programs designed to support parents as they raise their children. There are four programs that correspond to specific child developmental periods. The programs include: Take Root for parents/caregivers of 0-3-year-old children; Sprout for parents/caregivers of 3-5-year-old children; Grow for parents/caregivers of 5-10-year-old children; and Branch Out for parents/caregivers of 10-18-year-old children. Each program focuses, in developmentally appropriate ways, on three primary dimensions: positive parenting, stress management, and healthy lifestyles. Each program is available in either an online-only format or a hybrid format, which includes group meetings in addition to the online program components.

Primary outcome measure

  • Ages & Stages Questionnaire: Social-Emotional (2nd Edition) [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Mindful Self-Care Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • National Survey of Early Childhood Health - Discipline Items [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Parental Stress Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Parenting Sense of Competence Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Positive Behavior Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Protective Factors Survey [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Co-Viewing Media & Screen Time Recall [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Outdoor Time Recall [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Parenting Scale - Short Form [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Parenting Young Children Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Strengths & Difficulties Questionnaire [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Alabama Parenting Questionnaire - 9 [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Feeding Practices & Structure Questionnaire [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Healthy Habits Index [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Interpersonal Mindfulness in Parenting Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Parental Emotional Styles Questionnaire [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Socialization of Coping Questionnaire [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Family Assessment Device - General Functioning [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Parent-Adolescent Communication Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]
  • Targeted Parent-Child Communication about Substances Scale [ Time Frame: Baseline (2 weeks before intervention start), up to 6 weeks after intervention start, and 6 months after intervention end ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Daniel F Perkins, PhD

8148674182dfp102@psu.edu

Ryan P Chesnut, PhD

8148659637rpc5108@psu.edu

Locations

The Pennsylvania State University

Recruiting

University Park, Pennsylvania, United States, 16802

Contacts

Ryan P Chesnut, PhD

814-865-9637rpc5108@psu.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Penn State University

Last update posted

Apr 8, 2026

Last verified

Apr, 2026

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Penn State University on 2026-04-08.