Health Effects of Mentoring

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to determine whether mentoring is associated with beneficial cardiovascular health effects in both mentors and mentees.

Detailed Description
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Participants are randomly assigned to either being a mentor or a wait list control. These participants are drawn from a population of undergraduate students. Participants are also randomly assigned to either being a mentee or a wait list control. These participants are drawn from a population of Chicago Public School children. In total, there will be 30 mentors, 30 control mentors, 30 mentees, and 30 control mentees. Participants will come for a laboratory visit in which cardiovascular health measures will be taken (details below). Visits will occur once at baseline (before the intervention starts), and once post-intervention. The protocol will be the same at the two study visits. Participants in the intervention group will engage in one-on-one mentoring sessions (between mentors and mentees) once a week after school for the school year

Official Title
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Pilot Study of Physical Health Effects of Cities Mentor Project

Conditions
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Cardiovascular Health

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Mentoring


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Undergraduate student for mentors. Chicago Public School student for mentees. Exclusion Criteria: Younger than 9 or older than 14 for mentee conditions.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 9 Years
Maximum Age: 25 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Intervention (Mentor/Mentee)<br> | Behavioral: Mentoring<br>* Youth in the intervention group will participate in one-on-one mentoring sessions (between mentors and mentees) once per week after school. Mentoring sessions will focus on the development of a social bond between mentor and mentee.<br>|
| No Intervention: Wait list control<br> | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Obesity [body mass index] | BMI in kg/m^2, weight in kilograms, height in meters | Change in body mass index from baseline to 8 months | 
| Blood Pressure |  | Change in blood pressure from baseline to 8 months | 
| Pro-inflammatory cytokines [standardized and averaged value of pro-inflammatory cytokines and CRP] |  | Change in cytokine composite score from baseline to 8 months | 
| Cholesterol |  | Change in cholesterol from baseline to 8 months | 
| HbA1c |  | Change in HbA1c from baseline to 8 months | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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mentoring, children, cardiovascular health