Evaluation of Be CALM Connections - Mindfulness-Based Relationship Education Programming for Adolescents
Creators: name: Karberg, Elizabeth
Publisher: name: Open Science Framework
Year: 2022
Subjects: subject: Social and Behavioral Sciences

description: Child Trends will evaluate a relationship education program for 9th grade youth in rural North Carolina schools. The Be CALM Connections (BCC) program promotes social-emotional skills for healthy relationships through mindfulness and self-regulation skill development. Through professional development with educators and a 16-lesson student curriculum, it targets emotion regulation and stress management, communication and conflict resolution, and identity and values that support healthy connections with peers and others. The Office of Family Assistance, part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, funds this project. The goal of this evaluation is to assess assesses changes in youth outcomes before and after participating in, and implementation of, the BCC Program. Implementation will be evaluated with regard to student attendance and engagement, teacher fidelity, and satisfaction of both students and teachers. Effectiveness will be assessed through improvement in youth’s interpersonal mindfulness, emotional regulation, and emotional wellbeing in the short term, which are hypothesized to positively influence youths’ relationship attitudes and beliefs as well as their interpersonal relationships in the long term. An implementation evaluation and a pre-post-test descriptive outcome evaluation will be conducted. Data collection activities to inform the implementation evaluation include: 1) Ongoing assessment of student attendance and dosage, lesson checklists, and student engagement surveys 2) Focus groups with students and educators 3) Video assessment of lesson delivery quality Findings from these activities will be used to address the following research questions: 1) Fidelity: What percentage of the required program components were delivered in classrooms delivering the BCC program? 2) Dosage: How many sessions did youth participate in, on average? What percentage of participants completed the program? 3) Engagement: How engaged were youth in the program? Data collection activities to inform the descriptive outcome evaluation include: 1) Student pre-program surveys 2) Student post-program surveys (immediately following program completion) 3) Student follow-up surveys (6-months post program completion) Findings from these activities will be used to address the following primary research questions: 1) Do youth who complete the BCC Program show improvements in their (a) interpersonal mindfulness, (b) emotion regulation, and (c) emotional well-being at the end of the program, compared to before the program began? 2) Do youth who complete the BCC Program show improvements in their (a) relationship attitudes and beliefs and (b) interpersonal skills 6 months after program completion, compared to before the program began? The following secondary research questions will also be explored: 1) Do youth outcomes vary depending on characteristics or experiences of youth (e.g., risk of unhealthy/violent relationships, stress level, race/ethnicity, gender identity, sexual attraction, exposure to healthy relationships)? 2) Are youth outcomes related to variability in implementation (e.g., delivery fidelity, student level dosage, quality of delivery, educator co-regulation)? 3) Is student engagement in the BCC Program related to their outcomes? 4) Do youth who complete the BCC Program show improvements in other exploratory outcomes (e.g., social-behavioral difficulties, academic self-efficacy, overall satisfaction with their interpersonal relationships, quality of romantic relationships, fewer risky behaviors)?