Recruiting

Co-Parenting Support

Sponsor:

Penn State University

Code:

NCT07400497

Conditions

Mental Health

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Family Foundations for Special Education

Study Details

Brief summary:

The goal of this clinical trial is to assess the program's impact on parent self-efficacy and co-parental support around (a) accessing health and educational services and (b) parenting for co-parents of children with disabilities entering the Special Education system before their first Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting. The main questions it aims to answer are: Does the program improve co-parenting support and coordination and parent efficacy in accessing services for and parenting their child? Does the program improve parent mental health, service access, engagement, and adherence? Does the program improve parenting quality? Does the program improve child adjustment (mental and behavioral health, academic engagement)? Researchers will compare pretest and posttest questionnaires from Treatment Group A with Control Group B to see if the program improves parent and child well-being, co-parenting relations, relations with service providers, ability to access services and meaningfully participate in IEP and other meetings.

Participants will:

  • Complete pre- and post-test questionnaires
  • Treatment Group A will participate in 6 learning sessions, each 1 hour to 1½ hour long, over a 6-8 week period

Conditions

Mental Health

Study ID

NCT07400497

Start date

Jan 12, 2025

Status verified date

Feb, 2026

Completion date

Dec 30, 2026

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Mar 31, 2026

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18+

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Parents/parental figures who are over the age of 18, and are involved in childrearing together.
  • Coparenting a child being evaluated for special education services
  • Has not yet had their first IEP meeting.
  • The target child must attend a Philadelphia elementary school (K-8).
  • The target child must be the first child in the family to go through the IEP process.
  • Co-parents must be fluent in English.

Study Design

Enrollment

120 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Group A

Group A will receive FF-SE in six virtual learning sessions to receive information on the special education system and methods to improve communications and working together as co-parents to enhance their IEP experience. The duration of each session will be between 1 to 1 ½ hour long and will be scheduled weekly according to the participants preferred scheduled. A workbook with supporting documents for each session will be mailed and/or emailed to each participant prior to the start of the sessions.

no intervention: Group B

Group B will have access to existing standard supports available to families entering the special education system.

Interventions

Family Foundations for Special Education

Families in the intervention group receive the new enhanced supports and participate in six private virtual learning sessions focused on understanding the special education system, improving communication, and enhancing collaboration as co-parents in the IEP process. Each session lasts 60-90 minutes and will be scheduled weekly according to the participants preferred schedule, including evenings and weekends. A workbook with supporting documents for each session will be sent to each participant prior to the start of the sessions.

Primary outcome measure

  • Coparenting Relationship Questionnaire [ Time Frame: From enrollment to the last learning session for intervention group, approximately 2 months after enrollment for the control group. ]
  • Parenting Sense of Competence Scale [ Time Frame: From pretest to two months post-intervention ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Samantha A. Murray-Perdue, PhD

4199561701sxm1726@psu.edu

Locations

Public Health Management Corporation

Recruiting

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, 19102

More Information

Sponsor

Penn State University

Last update posted

Feb 10, 2026

Last verified

Feb, 2026

Keywords

  • parenting education
  • children with disabilities
  • children with challenging behaviors
  • parenting relationships
  • Coparenting
  • Special Education

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-08. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Penn State University on 2026-02-10.