Future Leaders Program: Testing a Youth Leadership, Engagement, and Mindfulness Program
Trial statusRecruiting
Trial phaseNot applicable
Trial typeInterventional
Biological sexAll
Age14+
SponsorBoston University Charles River Campus
About this trial
The current study tests the feasibility and effectiveness of a youth intervention designed to provide meaningful leadership opportunities through the acquisition of leadership skills as well as mindfulness practice, LEAP: Leadership, Engagement, and youth Action Program with Mindfulness.
The goal of this project is to determine whether the Leadership, Engagement, and youth Action Program with Mindfulness (LEAP) curriculum, which was developed with youth, is a feasible and effective intervention for fostering leadership and well-being. The investigators seek to understand whether LEAP can support wellbeing for youth as a strategy to increase youth mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) health.
Eligibility criteria
This trial accepts healthy volunteersQualifiers
Adolescents ages 14 and older in grades 9-12 during the Fall/Winter or in grades 9-11 during the Spring
Enrolled in a partner site in Massachusetts or Illinois
Adolescents are only included with parent consent and youth assent if they are under the age of 18. Adolescents at least 18 years old can provide consent.
Disqualifiers
They participated in the pilot phase (UG3)
They cannot commit to participation in the full study (e.g., attendance at all intervention sessions)
They are not in grades 9-12 at a partner site
Parent/guardian has a preferred consent language other than English or Spanish.
Trial design
Design model
Parallel
Treatments tested in this trial
Leadership, Engagement, and youth Action Program with Mindfulness
BehavioralThe Leadership, Engagement, and youth Action Program with Mindfulness intervention (LEAP) was designed and co-created with youth to improve youth well-being by enhancing leadership opportunities and by developing mindfulness in day-to-day life. LEAP seeks to foster these improvements in youth and to increase youth mental, emotional, and behavioral health. Youth voice is incorporated into the intervention, with facilitators leading the first 7 sessions, and youth leading the remainder.
EnvisionIT
BehavioralParticipants in this arm will receive 14 sessions of EnvisionIT training, focused on preparing students with essential skills including digital literacy through competency in information technology, financial literacy, English language arts skills, and college and career readiness. All sessions will be delivered by facilitators trained in EnvisionIT.
Treatment groups
504 Participants
are divided into 2 treatment groupsGroup A: Leadership, Engagement, and youth Action Program with MindfulnessExperimental treatment 1 intervention
Group B: EnvisionITActive comparator 1 intervention
Trial outcomes
Primary outcomes
1
Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness, and Happiness (EPOCH; Kern et al., 2016) measure of adolescent wellbeing
20-item, 5-point scale measuring five positive characteristics that support higher levels of wellbeing: Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness, and Happiness. The scale range is 1-5, higher scores indicate better wellbeing.
Time frame
Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 months2
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 2001)
25 item multiple choice questionnaire that measures internalizing and externalizing problems and prosocial behavior (emotional, conduct, hyperactivity-inattention, peer, prosocial). The scale range is 0-40, higher scores indicate worse difficulties.
Time frame
Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 months3
Self-Rated Health 12-item Short-Form Survey (SF-12; Ware et al., 1996)
12 item 5-point survey measuring general health, asking about overall health self-rating, ability to do daily activities, energy levels, and physical and emotional limitations. The scale range is 0-100, higher scores indicate better health.
Time frame
Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 monthsSecondary outcomes
1
Student Career Construction Inventory (Savickas, 2018)
18 item measure 5-point survey measuring crystallizing a vocational self-concept, exploring to gather information about occupations, deciding to commit to an occupational choice, and preparing to implement that choice. Scale scores range from 1-5, with higher scores indicating greater focus on each of the four tasks of career choice construction.
Time frame
Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 months2
Vocational Skills Self-Efficacy (VSSE; McWhirter et al., 2000)
29 item 5-point survey measuring level of confidence to establish and work toward job goals. Scale scores range from 29-145, with higher scores indicating greater vocational self-efficacy.
Time frame
Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 monthsSponsors and contacts
Click on the lead sponsor to view all of their trials.
Boston University Charles River Campus
Lead sponsor
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)
Collaborator
Source ClinicalTrials.gov