Teenage Health and Wellness Study
Condition: Stress; Externalizing Symptoms; Depression Symptoms; Anxiety
MeSH terms: Depression
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      This study evaluates the effects of mindfulness on physiological stress mechanisms implicated
      in externalizing behaviors and symptoms of affective and traumatic stress among urban
      adolescents. Program effects on stress physiology will be evaluated using pre- and post-tests
      of heart rate variability (HRV) during a stress task. Emotional and behavioral outcomes will
      be measured using student and teacher ratings.
    

Detailed description: 
      Low-income urban adolescents experience high rates of adversity and trauma exposure,
      increasing their risk for stress-related problems, including externalizing behaviors and
      affective and traumatic stress symptoms. These outcomes are associated with dysregulated
      physiological responses to stress, both in the laboratory and real-world contexts. The
      neuroplasticity that typifies adolescence heightens vulnerability to stress effects on
      various brain and body systems. On the other hand, the same neurodevelopmental features also
      suggest pathways for overcoming and altering stymied trajectories through targeted
      interventions that leverage the brain's plasticity. Thus, adolescence affords a window of
      opportunity to reinforce parasympathetic modulation of stress responses, enhancing capacities
      for emotion regulation and, in effect, protecting against the development of behavioral and
      affective problems.

      There is growing empirical support for the ability of mindfulness-based programs to improve
      stress management in adults, leading to improved well-being, coping and prosocial behavior.
      Evidence suggests that mindfulness influences homeostatic systems that modulate
      neurophysiological responses to stress in the service of emotion regulation. Indeed,
      neuroimaging studies in adults have established that mindfulness measurably improves brain
      function, demonstrating the alterability of these mechanisms. No such data have been
      collected for youth, nor have the psychophysiological mechanisms underlying mindfulness
      program effects for disadvantaged urban youth been rigorously evaluated. The proposed
      research thus has potential to substantively advance understanding of mindfulness mechanisms
      of effects and also to facilitate optimization of mindfulness programming so that it has
      maximum benefits for urban youth.

      This study evaluates the effects of mindfulness on physiological stress mechanisms implicated
      in externalizing behaviors and symptoms of affective and traumatic stress among urban
      adolescents. Program effects on stress physiology will be evaluated using pre- and post-tests
      of heart rate variability (HRV) during a stress task. Emotional and behavioral outcomes will
      be measured using student and teacher ratings.
    

Intervention name(s): The Mind in Action; Healthy Topics
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Mindfulness program for adolescents; Health education program for adolescents
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Quadruple (Participant, Care Provider, Investigator, Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: mindfulness; stress physiology; urban youth