Open trial of the parent behavior change intervention (PBC-I): Study protocol

Objective: Parents have profound impacts on adolescents' health behaviors. Yet parents receive minimal training in the elements of conversations that optimally inspire their children toward engaging in healthy behaviors. The current study examines a novel interpersonal target: parent-adolescent conversations about adolescent health behavior change. Derived from advances in the science of behavior change, the Parent Behavior Change Intervention (PBC-I) contains conversational elements (e.g., behavior change techniques, positive communication strategies) hypothesized to reduce parent-adolescent coercion and conflict and facilitate upward spirals of healthy behavior change in adolescents. Method/Design: The first phase of the study involves the development of the PBC-I in a small case series (N = 12 dyads). The second phase involves an open trial of the PBC-I (N = 36 dyads). Adolescents will receive six 50-min sessions of the Transdiagnostic Sleep and Circadian Intervention to improve sleep while their parents receive six50-min sessions of the PBC-I. Parent-adolescent dyads will be assessed before and after the intervention. The primary analysis will examine whether postintervention use of behavior change techniques and positive communication strategies by parents is higher than preintervention use and whether increased use by parents predicts more positive conversational behaviors, less parent-adolescent conflict, higher adolescent motivation for change, and improved adolescent sleep. Discussion: This research provides an initial test of the hypothesis that improving the parent-adolescent conversation will improve adolescent sleep health behavior. While sleep-related health behaviors are the focus of this study, the research is designed to be relevant to a broad range of health behavior change in young people.