A Trauma-Informed Intervention for Positive Youth Development and Teacher Wellness in Rural Montana Year 2
Condition: Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders
MeSH terms: Wounds and Injuries; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Compared to U.S. urban counterparts, rural residents face major barriers to using health care
      services. Challenges include shortages of services, long distances to existing services, and
      stigma regarding mental illness in isolated communities. These difficulties hold true for
      Montana, but especially for adolescents. The objective of A Trauma-Informed Intervention for
      Positive Youth Development and Teacher Wellness in Rural Montana is to improve stress-related
      mental and physical health outcomes for adolescents and educators in rural Montana through
      school-based, trauma-informed yoga exercises. This research demonstrates that this
      intervention is linked to improvements in mental (anxiety and depression) and physical health
      (cortisol) for students. This project builds on investigators' previous research (including a
      two-year CAIRHE pilot study, 2019-21) to promote positive youth development by simultaneously
      intervening with students and teachers with a trauma-informed yoga intervention. Geographic
      isolation and resulting lack of resources for many Montanan schools indicates a need for
      novel, school-centered interventions to address the needs of rural adolescents; yoga can
      benefit youth and teacher wellbeing.
    

Detailed description: 
      In Year 2, investigators will expand the study to pilot test a remote delivery for students
      and teachers in rural schools through virtual delivery (in addition to an in-person high
      school student intervention at the school district of Aim 1. Primary outcomes for teachers
      will assess career satisfaction/self-efficacy; primary outcomes for students will assess
      depression/anxiety symptomology. Effects on secondary mental/physical health outcomes will be
      drawn from survey results, cortisol levels, and heart rate variability measures (collected
      pre/post).

      Investigators will then determine which intervention design was more effective with students
      (in-person vs. remote) between the two years of this feasibility study through an outcome
      evaluation. Comparisons of mental and physical health outcomes will be examined by the
      research team using cohort data drawn from participants' physiological data and survey
      results.

      The short-term public health impact of this study is to improve the mental and physical
      health of rural Montana youth and teachers through a novel, school-based intervention. If
      successful, this study's long-term public health impact will reduce rates of anxiety and
      depression and improve physical health in geographically isolated settings.
    

Intervention name(s): Trauma-Informed Yoga
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Trauma-informed yoga intervention, delivered either in-person or remotely for 6 weeks, twice weekly for 45 minutes sessions
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Supportive Care