Healing Hearts: A Mindfulness App for Parents Navigating Divorce or Separation

Summary

This study examines online programs for parents navigating divorce or separation. Researchers will study whether a self-guided mindfulness app called Healing Hearts, followed by a self-guided online parenting program called the electronic New Beginnings Program, is feasible and acceptable to parents and shows promising effects on parent and child wellbeing. Ninety-six parents who live in the United States, have a child aged 6 to 18 with a former partner, and report mild to moderate psychological distress will be randomly assigned to one of three groups: Healing Hearts followed by the parenting program, the parenting program alone, or a set of online educational resources. Participants complete online assessments before assignment, about seven weeks later, and about seven weeks after the second assessment. The study measures parent wellbeing, parenting, parent reports of child behavior, program use, and participant experiences. All participation takes place remotely.

Detailed Description

This pilot trial aims to evaluate the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of a digital mindfulness app developed through prior formative work and user testing for parents navigating divorce or separation who report elevated psychological distress. Eligible parents complete electronic consent, an intake and identity-verification call, and a baseline survey (T1) before individual randomization in a 1:1:1 ratio. The three arms are: Healing Hearts immediately followed by the parenting program, the parenting program alone, or a set of online educational resources. 1. The Healing Hearts program comprises four Parts with five days of activities per Part. Parents are encouraged to complete one Part weekly. Activities include guided meditation, lessons, journaling and reflection. In the combined arm, electronic New Beginnings Program access follows completion of the midpoint assessment (T2). 2. The eNBP-only arm receives the parenting program after baseline and retains access during follow-up. 3. The internet resources arm receives a list of online resources relevant to parenting and family wellbeing. Intent-to-treat analyses will be used. Follow-up assessments are requested irrespective of intervention completion, subject to participant consent and approved safety procedures. The study will estimate recruitment, retention, engagement, usability, acceptability, appropriateness and burden, together with preliminary between-group differences in parent self-regulation, parenting, distress and parent-reported child problems. In addition to online surveys, participants who have access to a PC computer will complete optional PC-based behavioral tasks to assess cognitive functioning. The pilot sample is intended to inform a larger trial and is not a formal efficacy evaluation.

Eligibility Criteria

Interventions