3 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The goal of this randomized trial is to test the effectiveness of two universal classroom-based mindfulness social and emotional learning (SEL) programs (one for students and one for teachers) by examining behavioral outcomes on 5th and 6th grade students and their teachers. The main questions it aims to answer are: * What are the singular and combined effects of a mindfulness-based SEL education programs for teachers and their students on the development of students' and their teachers' social, emotional, and cognitive competence, and well-being? * Can mindfulness-based SEL education programs for students and teachers foster the creation of caring, inclusive, equitable, and collaborative classroom contexts? * Can mindfulness-based SEL education programs support the development of students' and teachers' prosocial attitudes, mindsets that positively impact student learning? * Are the effects durable beyond the end of the programs with regard to the singular and combined mindfulness-based SEL interventions? A total of 24 classrooms will be randomized into one of three study conditions: 1. Mindfulness SEL program for Educators only 2. Mindfulness SEL program for Educators and Mindfulness SEL program for Students in combination, and 3. "Business as usual" (comparison groups in which regular classroom SEL curricula is implemented). Data will be obtained via multiple objective and subjective methods (e.g., self- and teacher-reports, peer behavioral assessments) from different sources (e.g., self-, peer-, and teacher-reports). Data will also be collected to monitor implementation of the two programs. To explore the ways in which these two programs impact student, teacher, and classroom outcomes, data will be analyzed to compare students and teachers in the three conditions. In Phase One (year one), the investigators will conduct an experimental "outcome" study to examine the singular and combined effects of the two programs by comparing pre-test and post-test measures across the three conditions. In Phase Two (year two), the investigators will conduct a six-month follow up with those teachers and students who participated in Phase One in order to determine the degree to which the program effects are durable after the program has ended.
The overarching goal of Thriving Hearts is to implement a multi-level program through Local Health Departments (LHDs) that cultivates conditions for mothers and birthing people to not only survive pregnancy, but to thrive. Thriving Hearts is a collaboration among LHDs in ten North Carolina counties, designed to reduce incidence of Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy (HDP) and their complications through support and connection at the individual, healthcare provider, and community level. The investigators will conduct a pragmatic, stepped-wedge, cluster randomized study. Participating LHDs will begin in a usual care phase, and they will transition to Thriving Hearts in clusters in a randomly assigned sequence at 9-month intervals.
This project aims to enhance AN university students' behavioral health by supporting their cultural identity development. While the connection between cultural identity and behavioral health is becoming clearer, comparably less research has explored methods of enhancing identity development. Consequently, the investigators will pilot a cultural identity development program for AN students at the University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA). This intervention is based on extant scientific literature, local findings from focus group with AN students, and traditional wisdom from AN Elders. The eight-week Elder-facilitated program incorporates storytelling, experiential learning, connection, exploration, and sharing of identity, cultural strengths, life paths, and rootedness in who they are in order to remain grounded when they face changes and challenges. Approximately 40 to 50 AN university students will be recruited for the intervention. Participants will be randomized, with half the participants receiving the intervention in the Fall 2020 semester and half the students receiving the intervention in the Spring 2021 semester. We hypothesize that engaging in this intervention will strengthen AN students' cultural identities, strengths, and sense of community; improve their behavioral health, as evidenced in higher self-reported wellbeing, and lower substance use, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation symptoms; and support their academic persistence and achievement. Outcomes will be tested via mixed design analyses of covariance. Moreover, program feasibility will be examined through a process evaluation, which will entail thematic analyses of six focus groups with program participants (n=40-50) and with the Elders who facilitated the program (n=5).