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Note: This record shows only the 20 elements of the WHO Trial Registration Data Set. To view changes that have been made to the source record, or for additional information about this trial, click on the URL below to go to the source record in the primary register.
Register: ISRCTN
Last refreshed on: 12 February 2013
Main ID:  ISRCTN32534848
Date of registration: 15/12/2009
Primary sponsor: Birmingham County Council (UK)
Public title: An evaluation of the PATHS® School Programme in Birmingham: support for school children aged 4 - 6 years N/A
Scientific title: A randomised controlled trial of the PATHS® School-Based Programme delivered in sixty primary schools across Birmingham City
Date of first enrolment: Jun 1 2009
Target sample size: 60 schools, 30 intervention, 30 control
Recruitment status: Completed/Not recruiting
URL:  http://isrctn.org/ISRCTN32534848
Study type:  Interventional
Study design:  Single centre randomised controlled trial  
Countries of recruitment
United Kingdom
Contacts
Name: Vashti  Berry
Address:  The Social Research Unit Lower Hood Barn TQ9 6AB Dartington United Kingdom
Telephone:
Email:
Affiliation: 
Key inclusion & exclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria: 1. Primary schools within Birmingham City
2. Children aged 4 - 6 years, either sex

Exclusion criteria: Secondary schools and schools outside of the City

Age minimum:
Age maximum:
Gender:
Health Condition(s) or Problem(s) studied
Conduct disorder (CD), hyperactivity, deficits in social and emotional wellbeing
Intervention(s)
The PATHS® programme (Promoting Alternative Thinking Strategies) curriculum is a programme for educators and counsellors and is designed to facilitate the development of self-control, emotional awareness, and interpersonal problem-solving skills. PATHS® is designed for use with elementary school-aged children. The purposes of the PATHS® Curriculum are to enhance the social competence and social understanding of children, as well as to facilitate educational processes in the classroom. PATHS® has been translated into Dutch, French, and Hebrew. It is used in a variety of schools for normal, deaf, and other special needs children in The Netherlands, Belgium, Wales, Great Britain, Norway, Canada, Australia, and Israel. In the United States, it is currently being used in sites in Washington State, Texas, Kansas, Illinois, South Carolina, New Mexico, and Pennsylvania.

The PATHS® programme is grounded in the science of children's brain development, which has determined that children experience and react to strong emotions before developing the cognitive abilities to verbalise them. The PATHS® programme's practical, effective strategies teach children how to label their feelings and apply self-control strategies, leading to significant improvements in coping skills, classroom behaviour, and verbal fluency.

The waiting list control schools will be offered the intervention after the final follow up which is June 2011.
Primary Outcome(s)
The parent completed Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) is the primary outcome measure for total child difficulties. We shall also analyse the subscales of conduct, peer relationships and hyperactivity problems, social competence, and the impact supplement, which assesses the impact problem behaviour can have in other areas of life. The clinical cut-off is 17 for total difficulties - the higher the score the worse the problems. This measure (and all secondary measures) will be administered at November 2009 baseline, and June 2010 and 2011 follow-ups.
Secondary Outcome(s)
Baseline data collection will be via teacher completed questionnaires, teacher roles and background survey (baseline only), PATHS Outcome Measure, School Climate Survey, implementation content survey, and implementation observations.
1. School climate: this survey measures general school climate, orientation of the school to innovation, collective responsibility, and working with parents
2. Teacher demographic and professional information: this survey measures demographic and professional information (behavioural management strategies) at baseline. In the June follow-ups, items regarding specific PATHS implementation support for programme condition teachers will be added to intervention group.
3. Teacher-reported measures of child problem behaviour: the PATHS outcome measure to assess social, emotional and behavioural problems in the school children
4. Observations of behaviours: we will use an observation developed for Fast Track that is a global rating scale of student behaviour. Timed observations involve conducting a 15 - 30 minute observation of teacher and classroom behaviour (developed by American Institute for Research [AIR]). At least one class will be observed in each school at each time point.
Secondary ID(s)
L680 TA-01631-01 RVPOG AOO
Source(s) of Monetary Support
Birmingham County Council (UK) (ref: L680 TA-01631-01 RVPOG AOO)
Secondary Sponsor(s)
N/A
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