Trial reportFrontiers in psychology2026
An online randomised controlled trial to evaluate the effectiveness of an online intervention for parents/guardians of children aged 4-7 years old who are concerned about their children's emotional and behavioural development: EMERGENT study.
Trial report in Frontiers in psychology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Authors and funding
7 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Many young children experience emotional and behavioural difficulties, yet access to early support is restricted by long waiting times and financial and logistical barriers. Digital mental health interventions (DMHIs) offer scalable support, but few are designed to engage both parents and children collaboratively. Embers the Dragon is a self-guided parent-child programme designed to help support the emotional wellbeing of parents/guardians and children aged 4-7. Aims: This study evaluated the effectiveness, acceptability, and health economic impact of Embers the Dragon compared with treatment as usual (TAU). Methods: A two arm online randomised controlled trial allocated 456 parents/guardians to Embers ( Results: Participants in the Embers condition reported significant reductions in SDQ scores from baseline to 24 weeks; the control group showed no improvement. Parental confidence increased in both conditions, with greater improvements shown in the Embers condition at 16 weeks, although differences were not maintained at 24 weeks. Parenting discipline improved across conditions, with more pronounced improvements for the Embers condition by 24 weeks. EQ5D3L scores showed no meaningful change over time and did not differ between conditions. Health economic analysis indicated that Embers was less costly and more effective than TAU, producing net savings per unit improvement in both SDQ and self-efficacy outcomes. Conclusion: Embers the Dragon delivered meaningful improvements in children's emotional wellbeing, as well as parenting confidence and discipline responses. As a low intensity, self-guided programme, it shows promise as a scalable early intervention option. Clinical trial registration: https://osf.io/ybxzu/ and ISRCTN (ISRCTN58327872).
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