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NIH grant 1R01NR022612-01A1: Empowering Parents of Critically Ill Children: A Multi-Site Evaluation of the EMPOWER-PICU Intervention
Institute: {'code': 'NR', 'abbreviation': 'NINR', 'name': 'National Institute of Nursing Research', 'admin_org_id': '12500052', 'admin_funding_url': ''}. PI: Wendy G. Lichtenthal. Award: $803946.
Start: 2026-09-25T00:00:00.
PROJECT SUMMARY
Post Intensive Care Syndrome-Family (PICS-F) is defined as impairment(s) in family caregivers’ mental health
and functioning following the patient’s ICU stay. The Society for Critical Care Medicine has advocated for
efforts to reduce the risk of PICS-F. Parents of children in the Pediatric ICU (PICU) exhibit alarmingly high
rates of psychological distress, with 50% reporting syndromal levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms prior
to discharge, and > 40% of parents meeting criteria for anxiety, depression, and/or post-traumatic stress
disorder (PTSD) in the months post-PICU discharge. Studies show that parents’ mental health influences
family health, including family functioning and parenting efficacy. Yet, few randomized controlled trials (RCTs)
target PICU parents’ mental health. We have demonstrated that our EMPOWER intervention (Enhancing &
Mobilizing the Potential for Wellness & Emotional Resilience) – an ultra-brief, scalable, and flexibly-
administered cognitive-behavioral therapy – is superior to enhanced usual care (EUC) for caregivers of adult
patients, reducing symptoms of PTSD (effect size “d”=1.38). However, because the needs of PICU parents are
different from those of adult ICU patient caregivers, we adapted it for PICU parents. This reduced PTSD
symptom severity in the 20 PICU parents we studied (d=1.31). Debriefing with these PICU parents identified
ways to enhance EMPOWER’s impact on other aspects of mental health, improve their parenting efficacy, and
the family’s functioning, which we incorporated into EMPOWER-PICU. We are now poised to: Aim 1: Compare
EMPOWER-PICU to EUC for decreasing parents’ PTSD symptom severity. PICU parents (n=156) will be
randomized 1:1 to EMPOWER-PICU (n=78) or EUC (n=78). Aim 2: Contextualize quantitative findings with
qualitative data. Semi-structured qualitative interviews of parents randomized to EMPOWER-PICU (n=78) will
provide data not captured by quantitative measures, including potential mechanisms of change, and ways to
enhance scalability. Aim 3: Determine the effects of EMPOWER-PICU on family functioning and parenting
self-efficacy after ICU discharge. Expertise in pediatrics, critical care, psychology, and epidemiology, along
with substantial preliminary work, make this a promising intervention to reduce PICS-F and improve family
health among survivors of pediatric critical illness.document fetched 2026-10-04 02:43