Preventing Vulnerable Child Syndrome in the NICU With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (PreVNT Trial)

This study, called the PreVNT Trial, is looking at whether Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) sessions can help parents of premature infants who have spent time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). The goal is to improve outcomes for both the parents and their babies. Parents in the study will receive standard NICU care information plus five CBT sessions, split between the NICU and follow-up clinic visits after their baby goes home. These sessions aim to address "Parent Perceived Child Vulnerability" (PPCV), which is when parents feel their child is especially fragile due to their NICU experience. Researchers will measure the impact by looking at parents' scores on the Vulnerable Baby Scale (VBSc) at the start of the study and again 6 to 9 months after their baby's birth. To join, your baby must have been born at Parkland Hospital, be 30.6 weeks gestation or less at birth, and survive to 33 weeks gestation. You must also speak English or Spanish. The current recruitment status is unclear.

Study design
This is an interventional study with a planned enrollment of 100 participants. It is not specified if it is randomized or blinded.
What's involved
Participants in the intervention group will receive 5 Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) sessions, split between the NICU and outpatient clinic visits after discharge.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
Participants will be followed for 6 to 9 months after their baby's birth to measure the primary endpoint.

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NCT03906435

Preventing Vulnerable Child Syndrome in the NICU With Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (PreVNT Trial)

Recruiting
NAAll AgesInterventionalPrevention
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
~100 participants
Updated 2026-07-09 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

At a glance

Recruiting sites
1 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
mean value score Vulnerable Baby Scale (VBSc) Score
Measured over difference in the mean value score of the VBSc scores of parents at baseline of the study (33 weeks post-menstrual age) versus at six to nine months of post-birth age
Premature Infant
Mental Health Issue (E.G., Depression, Psychosis, Personality Disorder, Substance Abuse)
Development, Child
Parent-Child Relations

NCT03906435

Where you'd take part

This study runs at 1 site. They're the same protocol — you choose where, and that choice sets who your contact draft is addressed to.

  • Parkland Health & Hospital System

    Dallas, Texasstudy coordinator listed

    Recruiting

Sites open and close at different times, so the status above is per site — it can differ from the study's overall status.

  • Margaret K Hoge, MD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · UT Southwestern Medical Center Dallas
  • Roy Heyne, MD · STUDY_DIRECTOR · UT Southwestern Medical Center Dallas
  • Richard J Shaw, MD · STUDY_DIRECTOR · Stanford University

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Eligibility criteria

Inclusion

Born at Parkland Hospital
English or Spanish speaking mother +/- father
≤ 30.6 weeks gestation at birth
Survival to 33 weeks gestation

Exclusion

Significant congenital anomalies
Child Protective Services (CPS) involvement or foster care placement -- Prior enrollment in this PreVNT study for an older sibling.
  • mean value score Vulnerable Baby Scale (VBSc) Scoredifference in the mean value score of the VBSc scores of parents at baseline of the study (33 weeks post-menstrual age) versus at six to nine months of post-birth age

    Measures parental perceptions of child vulnerability. It has been used for parents with infants as young as 10-12 weeks of age up through 6 months to a year old. It is a 10 question scale, with each question scored on a five point likert scale (1-5). Score range is 10-50. Maximum score of 50 possible. A score of 27 or more was the median score for a sample of medically fragile neonates, and signifies relatively high perceptions of vulnerability. While a score of 23 was the median for a sample of healthy controls and thus reflect a more normal perception of vulnerability (Kerruish et al 2005). The higher the score, the higher the perception of child vulnerability.