North London Mother-Child-Education-Program (MOCEP) for Turkish-speaking families

ISRCTN ISRCTN89522188
DOI https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN89522188
Secondary identifying numbers N/A
Submission date
03/03/2013
Registration date
23/05/2014
Last edited
21/01/2019
Recruitment status
No longer recruiting
Overall study status
Stopped
Condition category
Mental and Behavioural Disorders
Prospectively registered
Protocol
Statistical analysis plan
Results
Individual participant data
Record updated in last year

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
This study aims to find out whether young Turkish-speaking children living in London would benefit from a program devoted to educating their mothers in how to engage better with them. These children who live in greater London are believed to be at risk mainly because of their background and their current home environment. Most of their educational needs are found to be greater than those of other ethnic populations. This group constitutes 35% of the allocation in special schools. Turkish ethnic minorities are particularly disadvantaged in social and economic terms, and this extra deprivation was the result of racial prejudice and discrimination bearing directly on children within the educational system, as well as outside. It is though that these children do not benefit from the British education system owing to the low expectations of adults around them. They suffer a multitude of traumas: not only were they not given an opportunity to develop their minds in interpersonal experiences but also they were further traumatised by being deprived from literacy nurturing activities at their homes. Moreover, the parents experience culture clashes in their everyday lives in the UK, having been dislocated from mostly rural Turkey to urban neighbourhoods in the UK. A reorganisation of their identity is required, which in turn may have a negative effect on their parenting skills. As schools are often migrant children's first contact with Western culture, this is where their significant adaptation difficulties begin. For many, the school experience is not a good one, and the school is therefore perceived as an alienating environment. They and their parents require an adult education and child development program that encourages effective parenting. The Mother- Child-Education-Program (MOCEP) together with the Cognitive Enrichment Program (CEP) is suggested for this purpose. The aim of these Programs is to foster a strong relationship between the mother and the child within the educational cycle and assist not only the children at school, but also the whole family’s integration into British society. MOCEP consists of 25 weekly group sessions, each session lasting 2 hours. The sessions are semi-structured and followed by CEPs where mothers are trained in small groups about the ways of helping children gain study skills. Evidence collected in Turkey regarding the MOCEP suggests that parents can be taught both new skills and additional knowledge related to child rearing, specifically ‘reflective parenting skills’, and can be helped with their child’s particular developmental issues. The challenge here is to see whether the positive results obtained there can be repeated with the Turkish-speaking groups in London. This study is of value, as it claims to be an economic program to achieve preventative work in terms of protecting children and mothers from future academic as well as mental health related problems. It can also empower isolated migrant mothers within their community to become better parents in supporting their children’s adaptive development.

Who can participate?
Turkish speaking, literate mothers who have 4-6 years old children living in North London.

What does the study involve?
Participants will be randomly allocated to experimental and control groups. Experimental group participants will be offered Mother-Child-Education-Program (MOCEP) & Cognitive Enrichment Program (CEP) and control group participants will be offered these programmes in the next academic year.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
There are no potential risks of participation but potential benefits include more democratic ways of relating within the participating mothers' families as well as higher academic success in their children.

Where is the study run from?
The study is run from mainstream primary schools in Enfield, UK: Hazelbury School, Churchfield School joined up with Starksfield School, Houndsfield School joined up with Galliard School, Prince of Wales School, Wilbury School, Chesterfield School, Keys Meadow School.

When is the study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
December 2013 to December 2014

Who is funding the study?
Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health Trust (UK).

Who is the main contact?
Dr Denny Grant
Denny.grant@enfield.gov.uk

Contact information

Prof Peter Fonagy
Scientific

Research department of clinical, educational and health psychology
University College London
Grower Street
London WC1E 6BT
London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

Phone 020 76791943
Email P.fonagy@ucl.ac.uk

Study information

Study designRandomized controlled trial
Primary study designInterventional
Secondary study designRandomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)Other
Study typeQuality of life
Participant information sheet Not available in web format, please contact sheila.levi.barnet@beh.mht.nhs.uk to request a patient information sheet
Scientific titlePsychosocial enrichment program for Turkish-speaking parents and their children living in North London
Study objectives1. The experimental group’s mothers and children will show the highest improvements: mothers will have higher self-esteem scores, stronger hierarchical position in their families, and will score lower in SF-36. Children will have fewer behavioral problems reported by their parents as well as their teachers, better development specifically assessed by WPPSI-R performance subtests, story stems; will be giving more ordinary life accounts; will be drawing more closer or above their age, higher academic attainment reported by their children.
2. The differences between two points of measurement will be mediated by the changes in mother’s use of a more democratic style of parenting, i.e. reflective functioning.
3. Mothers who had a 'good object' in their past will show the highest improvements in their democratic style parenting.
4. Superiority of experimental group’s mothers in terms of self esteem, hierarchical position in the family will be mediated by changes in democratic style of parenting.
Ethics approval(s)University College London Ethics Committee; 21/05/2013; 4639/001
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studiedDisadvantaged children, Turkish migrant families, psychosocial enrichment program
InterventionParticipants are randomised to
1. Control Group: They recieve the programme in the following academic year
2. Experimental Group: Mother-Child-Education-Program (MOCEP) & Cognitive Enrichment Program (CEP)

25 group sessions each lasting 3 hours during the academic year. Follow up after 3 months.
Intervention typeOther
Primary outcome measure1. Women's status in the family scores; mother's self-esteem scores and democratic styles of parenting scores obtained from the ACEV questionnaires through an objective scoring system developed by Bekman, S (2000)
2. CBCL parent and teacher forms has a standardised scoring systems
3. WPPSSI-III UK performance subtests are scored in a standardised way to obtain scaled scores
4. Story stems has objective scoring system
5. KFD & DAP have objective scoring systems

Measured at baseline.
Secondary outcome measures1. SF-36 Health Survey has a standardised scoring system for Turkish population
2. Academic attainment levels are standard grades educators use in the UK
3. A brief account of child's life will be scored as 0=ordinary, 1=a bit ordinary but has elements of extraordinariness, 2=unusual,
magical thinking, extraordinary story

Measured after 5 months at the end of the intervention
Overall study start date15/12/2013
Completion date30/12/2014
Reason abandoned (if study stopped)Lack of funding/sponsorship

Eligibility

Participant type(s)Patient
Age groupAdult
SexFemale
Target number of participants180
Key inclusion criteria1. Turkish-speaking mothers
2. Living in North London
3. Having children between 4-6 years old
Key exclusion criteriaIlliteracy of the mother
Date of first enrolment15/12/2013
Date of final enrolment30/12/2014

Locations

Countries of recruitment

  • England
  • United Kingdom

Study participating centre

Research department of clinical, educational and health psychology
London
WC1E 6BT
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

Barnet, Enfield and Haringey Mental Health Trust (UK)
Hospital/treatment centre

c/o Dr Denny Grant
CAMHS Assistant Director/Principal Psychologist
Charles Babbage House
1 Orton Grove
Enfield EN1 4TU
London
EN1 4TU
England
United Kingdom

Phone 02083792000
Email Denny.grant@enfield.gov.uk
ROR logo "ROR" https://ror.org/00d2v4e22

Funders

Funder type

Hospital/treatment centre

Barnet, Enfield & Haringey Mental Health Trust (UK) - NHS Charitable Funds titled: "MOCEP-CEP Project" sponsors this research.

No information available

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to shareNo
IPD sharing plan summaryNot provided at time of registration
Publication and dissemination planNot provided at time of registration
IPD sharing plan

Editorial Notes

21/01/2019: The overall trial status has been changed to 'stopped'.
16/03/2017: No publications found in PubMed, verifying study status with principal investigator.