17 Clinical Trials for Various Conditions
The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the effects of an online positive psychological intervention on positive emotion, anxiety, depression, feelings of social isolation, sleep disturbance and a sense of meaning and purpose in the general public. The main question it aims to answer is: Will the practice of positive emotion skills via a self-guided online platform reduce feelings of anxiety, depression, social isolation, and sleep disturbance, as well as increase well-being, positive emotion, a sense of meaning and purpose, life satisfaction, and general self-efficacy? Participants will take part in an online positive psychological skill learning intervention for 6-8 weeks. Prior to beginning, immediately after, and 4 weeks after, participants will fill out measures of their wellbeing.
Intensive Care Units (ICU) are stressful places where life-and-death medical decisions are made and patients' surrogate decision-makers are exposed to potentially traumatic experiences. As the number of life-prolonging procedures administered to the patient rises, the patient's quality of life falls. Thus, interventions to improve the quality of life and care of ICU patients are needed. EMPOWER is a cognitive-behavioral, acceptance-based intervention for patient surrogate decision-makers to reduce experiential avoidance of unpleasant thoughts and feelings related to thinking about patient death. By reducing surrogate's experiential avoidance, EMPOWER removes a barrier to advance care planning. EMPOWER aims to improve patient quality of life through enhancing value-directed end-of-life care while also empowering surrogates to cope with a loved one's potential impending death and adjust following the patient's ICU death or discharge. Specifically, investigators aim to: * 1: Develop EMPOWER for surrogate decision-makers of critically ill patients who are at risk of becoming incapacitated or are currently unable to communicate in the ICU. Key informants, including bereaved ICU patient caregivers and clinicians, will be asked to evaluate the EMPOWER intervention manual to increase its potential tolerability, acceptability and efficacy. * 2: Determine feasibility, tolerability, acceptability, and preliminary effects of EMPOWER on surrogate mental health. * 3: Estimate the effects of EMPOWER on patient outcomes in the months following the ICU admission. Hypothesis 1: Surrogate decision-makers who receive EMPOWER will have significantly lower levels of peritraumatic distress when compared to usual care condition at post intervention assessment (T2). Hypothesis 2: Patients whose surrogates receive EMPOWER will have more value-concordant care, better quality of life, and better quality of death. EMPOWER was first evaluated though a single site open trial (n=10). All 10 participants in the open trial phase received EMPOWER. Feedback from clinicians, bereaved stakeholders and results from the open trial were then used to refine the intervention and launch a multi-center randomized controlled trial to examine clinical superiority of EMPOWER to enhanced usual care. In order to adapt to restrictions in ICU visitation and meet the needs of family caregivers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, we then launched a second single arm open trial and paused recruitment for the RCT. All participants recruited during the open trial COVID-19 phase received EMPOWER. Beginning in August 2021, we resumed the RCT portion of the trial to meet the initial recruitment goals of the study (total n of RCT \& COVID-19 open trial=60).
The Professional Peer Resilience Initiative (PPRI) study is an observational study aimed at understanding how symptoms of traumatic stress and resilience evolve over time in the University of Minnesota (UMN) healthcare workforce during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The study is being conducted concurrently with a UMN peer support program called the MinnRAP program and will remotely administer quality of life and mental health surveys to healthcare workers before they start the MinnRAP program and throughout their participation in the program.
In the last four years alone, residents of Puerto Rico have experienced a slew of natural disasters including Hurricane Maria in 2017, earthquakes in 2019 and 2020, the continued COVID-19 pandemic from 2020-2022, and most recently Hurricane Fiona. This series of distressing events can lead to an increased need for mental health resources and trauma treatment. Furthermore, the unique single-district structure of the Puerto Rican education system allows for the efficient dissemination of potential interventions and treatment to all students. The purpose of this study is to examine two treatment conditions for educators and school-aged children in Puerto Rico experiencing burnout, fatigue, and high stress: delivery of a mindfulness-based educator curriculum and, for children who report Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptomatology, delivery of the mindfulness curriculum with the additional intervention of Cue-Centered Therapy (CCT). The study has two aims: 1) To assess the efficacy of the mindfulness curriculum and of CCT in a population of students, counselors, and teachers, characterized by high stress over the last few years of natural disasters and pandemic challenges and 2) To identify genetic contributions to resilience by analyzing gene expression in students before and after the intervention. The overarching goals of the investigators' research collaboration are to improve educators' psychological well-being and children's socioemotional development when faced with high stress and adversity and to improve mental health clinicians' competence and confidence in treating children exposed to trauma by training them in CCT. The investigators' research will identify critical biopsychosocial components responsible for the cognitive, behavioral, and emotional improvement and effective implementation strategies in a large but geographically dispersed school district. The knowledge base that will result from this study will inform the implementation of trauma-informed care in school settings and with populations experiencing stress and adversity, and contribute to the investigators' understanding of the underlying biology of these interventions to provide a rationale for further development and dissemination.
Established in 2021, NYCEAL consists of approximately 40 organizational partners and 120 Community Health Workers (CHWs). Over the next four years (2024-2028), NYCEAL will work with this network to implement the following intervention: Building Community Resilience Program (BCR). To assess the impact of this intervention, an implementation research framework will be used, and pre- and post-surveys conducted, and other process evaluation measures collected. Changes in outcomes measures such as stress, resilience, overall wellbeing, and other related outcomes for participants in the BCR program will be measured for community healthcare workers and/or frontline workers that receive educational workshops.
Goal 1: The investigators will quantify lifetime stress burden and examine mechanisms linking Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) and health. The investigators will quantify the early life and total lifetime stress burden of a representative sample of about 725 adults (aged 18+) across northern and southern California. In addition, the investigators will examine how prior life stress exposure and current stress levels are associated with differences in psychosocial, immune, metabolic, physiologic, and clinical outcomes for all participants at baseline. Goal 2: The investigators will develop and test a biopsychosocial intervention using existing programs, platforms, resources, and core components from trauma and resilience research that will target five stress-related domains (i.e., cognitive response style, social relationships, eating, sleep, and physical activity) using cognitive restructuring and mindfulness, interpersonal skills training, mindful eating training, sleep training, and behavioral activation/mobility training. The investigators will then assess the efficacy and acceptability of the intervention in about 425 high stress exposure participants from Goal 1. Following their baseline assessment, about 425 participants will be randomly assigned to receive for 12 weeks (a) personalized intervention, (b) environmental education (active control) or (c) nothing (non-active control). The investigators will also assess the efficacy of the personalized intervention by comparing changes in outcomes by condition from baseline (prior to randomization) to immediately after the intervention, and then again after 12 weeks following intervention completion. The interventions will be entirely online/remote.
To examine the feasibility, acceptability, and preliminary efficacy of a remotely delivered intervention for civilians and service members with mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) who have difficulty recognizing and regulating their emotions. Post-treatment outcomes of interest include emotional self-awareness and regulation, resiliency, and affective symptoms.
Health care workers (HCW) face distressing work related situations that pose a threat to the HCW's resilience and well-being. Hospital-based peer support programs can improve HCW well-being, but there are few programs and little data for settings outside of hospitals. The program would adapt, implement, and evaluate an evidence-informed peer support program (RISE) in ambulatory practices, rural hospitals, Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHC), and community based organizations (CBOs). The hypothesis is that the availability of peer support will improve the culture of well-being, and the resilience and well-being of HCW in participating organizations. The research has the potential to improve the quality of life of HCW and the quality of care available to diverse organizations and the populations the HCW serve.
Stigma and discrimination related to HIV and AIDS ("HIV-related stigma") have been identified worldwide as major barriers to HIV treatment and care, posing challenges to HIV prevention efforts and provision of adequate care, support, and treatment. Despite decades of global efforts to tackle HIV-related stigma, previous interventions designed to reduce stigma have been largely ineffective. The knowledge gaps and challenges for combating HIV-related stigma are partly rooted in the complexity and diversity of the stigma and partly in the limitations in current conceptualization of stigma reduction efforts. Recent research, including our own preliminary data, has shown the promise of resilience approaches that focus on the development of strengths, competencies, resources, and capacities of people living with HIV (PLWH) and those of their real or surrogate family members and healthcare facilities to prevent, reduce, and mitigate the negative effects of stigma. However, the resilience approach, while hypothesized, has not been widely tested in intervention trials. In the current application, we propose to develop, implement, and evaluate a theory-guided, multilevel multimode resilience-based intervention via a stepped-wedge randomized trial among 800 PLWH and their real or surrogate family members as well as 320 healthcare providers in Guangxi, China where we have built a strong research infrastructure and community collaboration through NIH-funded research since 2004. The primary outcome will be viral suppression among PLWH, and the intermediate outcomes will include resilience resources at the levels of individuals, the real or surrogate family members, and healthcare facilities as well as chronic stress response and adherence to treatment and care. The proposed study is innovative as it addresses a number of knowledge gaps in HIV-related stigma reduction intervention research based on both a conceptualization of stigma reduction and advancement in intervention research methodology (e.g., multilevel and multi-component intervention modality, a stepped wedge design, the addition of biomarkers to assess the effects of stigma, and targeting primary HIV clinical outcomes such as viral suppression). The proposed research is significant as it addresses a critical public health issue in the US and globally. The proposed intervention protocol, if proven efficacious, has the potential to be replicated in other low- and middle-income countries to mitigate the negative impact of stigma on the HIV treatment and care continuum.
Parental illness and death from HIV/AIDS has a profound and lasting impact on a child's psychosocial well-being, potentially challenging the basic needs for survival and compromising the child's future. Therefore, the impact of parental HIV/AIDS on children needs to be treated from both a public health and a developmental perspective. However, to date the role of a resilience-based approach among children affected by HIV is hypothesized but not evidence-based. In this application, we propose to develop a theory-guided, resilience-based, multimodal intervention by culturally adapting and integrating components from three SAMHSA model programs which show strong evidence in promoting protective factors among young children. The multimodal intervention will include three approach levels: the individual child (peer-group activities), the family (caregiver parenting skill training), and the local community (community advocacy). The short, medium, and long-term efficacy of the Child-Caregiver-Advocacy-Resilience \[ChildCARE\] intervention to improve health and psychosocial well-being of children will be evaluated over 36 months through a cluster randomized controlled trial. About 800 HIV/AIDS-affected children (8 to 11 years of age) and their primary caregivers will be recruited from central China where we have built a strong research infrastructure and community collaboration during our previous study. The primary outcome measures for the children will include physical health, mental health, growth and development, school performance, and a biological indicator of neurobiological stress response (salivary cortisol). The outcome measures at caregiver level will include parenting style, parental engagement, and mental health well-being. The changes at the community level will be measured using children's and caregivers' perceptions of social support and HIV-related public stigma. We will also examine the potential mechanism through which the ChildCARE intervention is exerting its impact by identifying improvement in protective factors and other individual and contextual factors that potentially mediate or moderate the intervention effect. This proposed project will examine whether the multilevel protective factors we identified in our initial project are amenable to intervention and whether their hypothesized changes explain improvement in children outcomes.
The Growing Resilience research leverages reservation-based assets of land, family, culture, and front-line tribal health organizations to develop and evaluate home food gardens as a family-based health promotion intervention to reduce disparities suffered by Native Americans in nearly every measure of health. Home gardening interventions show great promise for enabling families to improve their health, and this study aims to fulfill that promise with university and Wind River Indian Reservation partners. The investigators will develop an empowering, scalable, and sustainable family-based health promotion intervention with, by, and for Native American families and conduct the first RCT to assess the health impacts of home gardens.
The investigators aim to refine and pilot test an innovative group treatment model for adolescent depression and anxiety, Training for Awareness, Resilience and Action (TARA) in a sample of 14-18 year olds with depressive or anxious symptoms.
The overall aim of this protocol is to examine patient and care-giver outcomes and acceptance of a new 6 week intervention in Arizona for our transplant and cancer patients and their care-givers, designed to improve quality of life, decrease perceived stress, and improve medical outcomes, that has been approved as a pilot clinical program at Mayo Clinic in Arizona.
This study will evaluate brain changes and psychological characteristics of people who are resilient to trauma. It will examine and compare responses in three categories of subjects: 1) people who have been exposed to a significant traumatic event and suffer symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) severe enough to interfere with their ability to function; 2) people who have been exposed to a significant traumatic event and do not suffer PTSD symptoms severe enough to interfere with their ability to function; and 3) people who have never been exposed to a significant traumatic event. Most people who are exposed to trauma recover well from the adversity. Some may even benefit from it by, for example, gaining greater self-confidence of strengthening personal relationships. Others, however, develop PTSD and may have repeated thoughts, images, and dreams of the trauma; feel upset when reminded of the traumatic event; avoid places or people that remind them of the trauma; feel detached from others; have difficulty sleeping and concentrating; or startle easily. People in the three categories listed above may be eligible for this study. Candidates will be screened with a medical and psychiatric interview, evaluation of emotional intelligence (sensitivity to feelings of others), physical examination, electrocardiogram (EKG) and blood tests. Participants will undergo the following additional tests and procedures: * 24-hour urine collection and three urine drug screens over the course of the study. * Saliva collection every 2 hours on the day of the urine collection. * Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain: Subjects will have three MRI scanning sessions to show brain structure and changes in blood flow in different regions of the brain that are responsible for emotion. MRI uses a strong magnetic field and radio waves to produce images of body tissues. During the scan, the subject lies on a table in a narrow cylinder containing a magnetic field and may wear earplugs to muffle loud sounds that occur during the scanning process. While in the scanner, the subject is shown pictures of faces, houses, or words and performs tasks that involve making decisions about the pictures Subjects are also shown pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral pictures; and they are asked to play two games of chance - one that evaluates social cooperation; the other evaluating decision-making. Heart rate, blood pressure and respiration are measured during the scans. * Neuropsychological testing: These tests are designed to evaluate memory, learning, attention and concentration, and naming. * Aversive conditioning: This procedure examines how the body reacts to unpleasant stimuli, such as a mildly unpleasant electrical stimulation to the wrist or a loud sound, over time. During the test, heart rate, electrodermal activity (sweat), respiration, finger pulse volume, and eyeblink responses will be measured. A small blood sample will be drawn every 5 minutes to evaluate plasma levels of various stress hormones, including cortisol, neuropeptide Y, norepinephrine, and others. * Genetic and biological testing: Patients who agree to genetic testing will have a blood sample drawn for DNA studies to better understand the biology and pharmacology of PTSD.
The goal of this clinical trial is to learn if a personalized prenatal support program \[(Personalized Toolkit Building a Comprehensive Approach to Resource optimization and Empowerment in Pregnancy \& Beyond, (PTBCARE+)\] works to lower stress and lower the risk of early delivery in pregnant individuals at high-risk for delivering preterm. The main question\[s\] it aims to answer are: * Does the PTBCARE+ patient support program lower patient-reported stress levels during pregnancy? * Does the PTBCARE+ patient support program improve biologic measures of stress during pregnancy? * Does the PTBCARE+ patient support program result in a higher chance of delivering a healthy baby at or close to full term? Researchers will compare people who participate in the PTBCARE+ patient support program to those receive usual care to see if the PTBCARE+ patient support program lowers patient-reported stress, improves biologic measures of stress, and increases the chance of delivering a healthy baby at or close to full term. Participants will be randomly assigned to receive the PTBCARE+ patient support program or usual prenatal care. All participants will be asked to: * complete 2 study visits during pregnancy - including completing electronic surveys, providing a blood and urine sample, measuring the heart rate variability by a clip or the ear or finger, and body composition evaluation using a simple scale-like device. * complete one study visit postpartum that includes completing electronic surveys, and measuring heart rate variability. Blood and urine sample collection and body composition evaluation via InBody scale are optional at the postpartum visit. People who are randomly assigned to receive the PTBCARE+ support program will receive several resources to help them during pregnancy. These things include items such as: * a stress reduction toolkit; * access to an online website that can also be downloaded as a smart phone app; * the option to receive an electronic massage while in clinic, and more. * additional support gifts provided at routine clinical appointments People who are randomly assigned to receive usual prenatal care will not receive any additional support resources from the study during pregnancy.
Millions of U.S. parents have experienced trauma, putting them at risk for maladaptive parenting practices, which then confer vulnerabilities to their children. This study aims to enhance understanding of how parental emotional dysregulation associated with traumatic stress impedes effective parenting. The study employs neurophysiological methods (electroencephalogram; EEG) to address some of the challenges inherent in the study of emotion (particularly in trauma-exposed individuals) and to identify potential biomarkers of traumatic stress and response to intervention.
The objective of this study is to determine whether a mindfulness coaching program was efficacious at reducing work stress, improving psychological and physical health outcomes, and improving work outcomes. The target population is employed adults (18 years and older) working in the industries of media, consulting, and healthcare.