TAB: The Take A Breath Research Program
The Take A Breath (TAB) research program investigates the prevalence, trajectories and determinants of distress reactions in parents of children (aged 0–18 years) recently diagnosed with a serious childhood illness or injury (SCII), and evaluates an intervention designed to prevent more serious long-term mental health difficulties. Parental psychological adaption to their child’s SCII has been identified as a significant predictor of child and family psychosocial adjustment both in the short and longer term. A substantive body of descriptive research has established that posttraumatic stress symptoms and other psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety are experienced by a significant subset of parents who have a child with a SCII.
The TAB Cohort Study is a prospective longitudinal study that explored resilience factors that contribute to good parent outcomes, and risk factors that are related to poor outcomes.
The TAB RCT is a randomised control trial evaluating the efficacy of an Acceptance Commitment Therapy-based group early intervention program for parents with persistent symptoms of distress. The TAB program was designed to reduce parental distress and improve psychosocial outcomes for parents, children and families and was developed by the TAB team and piloted in the TAB Cohort Study.
For both studies, participants included parents of children admitted to 4 different Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne, Australia) departments: Oncology, Cardiology, Neurology, and Intensive Care.
| Time point | T1 Within 4 weeks of diagnosis/ admission/ surgery |
T2 4 months after diagnosis/ admission/ surgery |
T3 7 months after diagnosis/ admission/ surgery |
T4 19 months after diagnosis/ admission/ surgery |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reported by | Parent | Parent Child (7 – 18 years) |
Parent Child (7 – 18 years) |
Parent Child (7 – 18 years) |
| Year | 2010 – 2012 | 2011 – 2012 | 2011 – 2013 | 2012 – 2014 |
| Identifiers and miscellaneous | ||||
| Behavioural problems | ||||
| Condition specific information | ||||
| Demographics | ||||
| Education and childcare | ||||
| General health | ||||
| Mental health | ||||
| Neurocognitive development | ||||
| Nutrition | ||||
| Parenting | ||||
| Relationships | ||||
| Resilience and wellbeing | ||||
| Sleep | ||||
| Speech, language and literacy | ||||
| Temperament and personality | ||||
| Linkage to other database(s) | ||||
| Time point | T1 | T2 | T3 | T4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Trial phase | Screening (0-4 weeks post admission) |
Pre-intervention (4-12 months post admission) |
Post-intervention (2 months after T2) |
6 month follow-up (6 months after T3) |
| Year | 2014 – 2016 | 2014 – 2017 | 2014 – 2017 | 2015 – 2017 |
| Identifiers and miscellaneous | ||||
| Behavioural problems | ||||
| Condition specific information | ||||
| Demographics | ||||
| Education and childcare | ||||
| General health | ||||
| Mental health | ||||
| Neurocognitive development | ||||
| Nutrition | ||||
| Relationships | ||||
| Resilience and wellbeing | ||||
| Sleep | ||||
| Temperament and personality | ||||
| Trial specific information | ||||
| Linkage to other database(s) | ||||
| Study Summary | |
|---|---|
| Study name | Take A Breath Cohort Study |
| Study abbreviation | TAB |
| Current principal investigator/s | Vicki Anderson Frank Muscara Meredith Rayner Maria McCarthy Kylie Burke Jan Nicholson |
| Current project manager | Frank Muscara |
| Primary Institution | Murdoch Children’s Research Institute |
| Collaborating Institution/s | The Royal Children’s Hospital La Trobe University Parenting Research Centre The University of Queensland |
| Major funding sources | The Pratt Foundation Department of Human Services (via the Parenting Research Centre) |
| Study website | https://www.mcri.edu.au/research/projects/take-breath |
| Key reference for study (published study protocol) | Muscara, F., Burke, K., McCarthy, M.C., Anderson, V.A., Hearps, S.J.C., Hearps, S.J., Dimovski, A. and Nicholson, J.M. (2015). Parent distress reactions following a serious illness or injury in their child: A protocol paper for The Take a Breath Cohort Study, BMC Psychiatry, 15:153. doi.org/10.1186/s12888-015-0519-5 |
| Are data available to others outside study team? | Not at this stage |
| Study focus (e.g. social development) | Parent mental health and outcomes, following a serious illness or injury in their child. |
| Sampling frame | Parents of children admitted to the Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne, Australia), in the following departments: – Oncology – Cardiology – Neurology – Intensive Care |
| Study type (e.g. randomised control trial, cohort, case-control) | Prospective longitudinal cohort |
| Year commenced | 2010 |
| Ongoing recruitment? | No |
| Commencement sample (N) | 194 parents |
| Intergenerational (e.g. offspring)? | No |
| Imaging (e.g. fMRI, ultrasound, retinal photograph)? | No |
| Linkage (e.g. BioGrid, VPDC, NAPLAN, Medicare)? | Medical records (limited) |
| Biosamples (e.g. buccal, blood, hair)? | No |
| Ethics approvals or requirements (e.g. specific, extended, unspecified, other)? | This project only (Specific consent) Future research related to this project (Extended consent) |
| Year | Age (mean, range) | Eligible sample (not deceased, not withdrawn) |
|---|---|---|
| T1 2010 – 2012 | ||
| T2 2011 – 2012 | ||
| T3 2011 – 2013 | ||
| T4 2012 – 2014 |
| Study Summary | |
|---|---|
| Study name | Take a Breath RCT Study |
| Study abbreviation | TAB |
| Current principal investigator/s | Vicki Anderson Frank Muscara Meredith Rayner Maria McCarthy Kylie Burke Jan Nicholson |
| Current project manager | Frank Muscara |
| Primary Institution | Murdoch Children’s Research Institute |
| Collaborating Institution/s | The Royal Children’s Hospital La Trobe University Parenting Research Centre The University of Queensland |
| Major funding sources | Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation |
| Study website | https://www.mcri.edu.au/research/projects/take-breath |
| Key reference for study (published study protocol) | Rayner, M., Muscara, F., Dimovski, A., McCarthy, M.C., Yamada, J., Anderson, V.A., Burke, K., Walser, R. and Nicholson, J.M. (2016). Take A Breath: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of an online group intervention to reduce traumatic stress in parents of children with a life threatening illness or injury. BMC Psychiatry, 16(1): 169. doi: 10.1186/s12888-016-0861-2 |
| Are data available to others outside study team? | Not at this stage |
| Study focus (e.g. social development) | The evaluation of the Take a Breath intervention for parents: its acceptability and utility in improving parent mental health and outcomes, following a serious illness or injury in their child. |
| Sampling frame | Parents of children admitted to the Royal Children’s Hospital (Melbourne, Australia), in the following departments: – Oncology – Cardiology – Neurology – Intensive Care |
| Study type (e.g. randomised control trial, cohort, case-control) | Randomised controlled trial |
| Year commenced | 2011 |
| Ongoing recruitment? | No |
| Commencement sample (N) | 231 parents (113 intervention/118 control) recruited as of August 2016 |
| Intergenerational (e.g. offspring)? | No |
| Imaging (e.g. fMRI, ultrasound, retinal photograph)? | No |
| Linkage (e.g. BioGrid, VPDC, NAPLAN, Medicare)? | Medical records (limited) |
| Biosamples (e.g. buccal, blood, hair)? | No |
| Ethics approvals or requirements (e.g. specific, extended, unspecified, other)? | This project only (Specific consent) Future research related to this project (Extended consent) |
| Year | Age (mean, range) | Eligible sample (not deceased, not withdrawn) |
|---|---|---|
| T1 2014 – 2016 | ||
| T2 2014 – 2017 | ||
| T3 2014 – 2017 | ||
| T4 2015 – 2017 |
Project Manager
Frank Muscara
Study Contact
Ph: +613 9936 6653
Email: takeabreath@mcri.edu.au
Postal Address
Child Neuropsychology
West level 4
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
The Royal Children’s Hospital
50 Flemington Road
Parkville
VIC 3052