Randomized Controlled Trial
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2022. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Jun 6, 2022; 10(16): 5306-5316
Published online Jun 6, 2022. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v10.i16.5306
Effectiveness of psychosocial intervention for internalizing behavior problems among children of parents with alcohol dependence: Randomized controlled trial
Dayananda Bittenahalli Omkarappa, Sreevani Rentala, Prasanthi Nattala
Dayananda Bittenahalli Omkarappa, Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Kempegowda College of Nursing, Bangalore 560004, Karnataka, India
Sreevani Rentala, Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Dharwad Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Dharwad 580008, Karnataka, India
Prasanthi Nattala, Department of Nursing, National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences, Bangalore 560029, Karnataka, India
Author contributions: Omkarappa DB designed and conceived the idea, performed the literature review/comparison, interpreted the data, and performed the majority of the write up in the first draft; Rentala S performed the statistical analysis, assisted in the write up of the first draft and critically reviewed the manuscript; Nattala P critically analyzed the results and reviewed the manuscript; all the authors have accepted responsibility for the entire content of the submitted manuscript and approved submission.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the institutional ethical committee (KINEC: 12/15-16) of Kempegowda College of Nursing.
Clinical trial registration statement: This study is registered at Clinical Trials Registry-India, No. CTRI/2018/07/01499.
Informed consent statement: Informed assent was taken from the child and informed consent from their parents.
Conflict-of-interest statement: Nothing to disclosed.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
CONSORT 2010 statement: The authors have read the CONSORT 2010 Statement, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the CONSORT 2010 Statement.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Dayananda Bittenahalli Omkarappa, PhD, Professor, Department of Psychiatric Nursing, Kempegowda College of Nursing, K.R. Road, V.V. Puram, Bangalore 560004, Karnataka, India. bodayananda@gmail.com
Received: March 20, 2021
Peer-review started: March 20, 2021
First decision: July 15, 2021
Revised: August 23, 2021
Accepted: April 30, 2022
Article in press: April 30, 2022
Published online: June 6, 2022
Abstract
BACKGROUND

Parental drinking has a direct bearing on children. Behavioral problems such as anxiety and depression are common problems among children whose parents drink heavily. Psychosocial interventions have shown promising results for anxiety and depression among children; however, few studies have been conducted in the context of children of parents with alcohol dependence in India.

AIM

To evaluate the efficacy of psychosocial intervention for internalizing behavioral problems among children of parents with alcohol dependence.

METHODS

A randomized controlled trial with a 2 × 4 factorial design was adopted with longitudinal measurement of outcomes for 6 mo. Two-hundred and eleven children who met the eligibility criteria (at least one parent with alcohol dependence) at government high schools in Bangalore, India, were randomized to the experimental (n = 97) or control group (n = 98). The psychosocial intervention was administered to the experimental group in eight sessions (biweekly) over 4 wk after baseline assessment. The intervention focused on identifying and modifying negative thoughts, replacing thinking errors with realistic alternatives, modification of maladaptive behavior, developing adaptive coping skills and building self-esteem. The data was collected pre-intervention and at 1, 3 and 6 mo after the intervention. Data were analyzed using SPSS 28.0 version.

RESULTS

Mean age of the children was 14.68 ± 0.58 years, 60.5% were male, 56% were studying in 9th standard, 70.75% were from nuclear families, and mean family monthly income was 9588.1 ± 3135.2 INR. Mean duration of parental alcohol dependence was 7.52 ± 2.94 years and the father was the alcohol-consuming parent. The findings showed that there were significant psychosocial intervention effects in terms of decreasing anxiety and depression scores, and increasing self-esteem level among experimental group subjects over the 6-mo interval, when compared with the control group (P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The present study demonstrated that the psychosocial intervention was effective in reducing anxiety and depression, and increasing self-esteem among children of parents with alcohol dependence. The study recommends the need for ongoing psychosocial intervention for these children.

Keywords: Anxiety, Depression, Self-esteem, Psycho-social intervention, Children of parents with alcohol dependence

Core tip: The burden of internalizing behavioral problems among children of alcohol-dependent parents in India calls for the immediate attention of health professionals. The health programs existing in India mainly focus on alcohol-using individuals; however, the children need interventions in view of various negative sequelae of familial alcohol use. The present study is a preliminary attempt in this direction. Internalizing behavioral problems can be reduced by using psychosocial intervention based on group cognitive–behavioral approaches.