Evaluation of an Entrepreneurship Program for American-Indian Youth

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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This study will use a randomized controlled design to evaluate whether a youth entrepreneurship/life-skills intervention for reservation-based American Indian adolescents (ages 13-15) improves psychosocial, behavioral health, educational, and economic outcomes from baseline for up to 3 years follow-up as compared to a recreational sports league control condition.

Detailed Description
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Intervention activities will be held over a 3 night/4 day residential camp and 6 weekend workshops during the academic year. The control condition will consist of a recreational sports league held on 3 Saturdays, also during the academic year.

Official Title
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Evaluation of an Entrepreneurship Program on Psychosocial, Behavioral Health, Educational and Economic Outcomes Among American-Indian Youth

Conditions
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Depressive Symptoms, Substance Use

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Arrowhead Business Group Curriculum
* Behavioral: Recreational League Control Condition


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: American Indian ethnicity and primary residence within the Fort Apache Indian Reservation. Participants must be 13-15 years old, enrolled as a student at one of the participating high schools, and must have parent/guardian consent for participation in the study. Exclusion Criteria: Youth that are currently enrolled in foster care will not be eligible to participate in the study. Those unable to participate in any of the evaluation assessments or intervention components will also be excluded.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 13 Years
Maximum Age: 15 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: Arrowhead Business Group Curriculum<br>The Arrowhead Business Group (ABG) Curriculum is a 22-session youth entrepreneurship/life-skills intervention delivered by trained American Indian paraprofessionals from the community to mixed-gender groups of approximately 25 youth. The intervention is delivered over a 3 night/4 day camp along with weekend workshops once a month for 6 months during the academic year. Depending on the time of enrollment, subjects will receive follow-up assessments at 6-month intervals for up to 36-months post-intervention. (Subjects in this cohort will also receive the activities associated with the control condition.) | Behavioral: Arrowhead Business Group Curriculum<br>* Arrowhead Business Group (ABG) is a culturally tailored entrepreneurship/life-skills intervention, which features instruction from American Indian paraprofessionals in an effort to decrease drug use, depressive symptoms, hopelessness and other high-risk behaviors among youth while improving their school performance and college/career aspirations.<br>Behavioral: Recreational League Control Condition<br>* The control condition will consist of a recreational sports league that will be led by local American Indian study staff who are experienced with Johns Hopkins camps and community-based Apache sports programs. Activities will be conducted on 3 Saturdays during the academic year to mixed gender groups of approximately 50 participants.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Recreational League Control Condition<br>The Recreational League Control Condition will be led by local American Indian study staff who are experienced with Johns Hopkins camps and community-based Apache sports programs. Sports and recreational activities will be conducted on 3 Saturdays during the academic year to mixed gender groups of approximately 50 participants. | Behavioral: Recreational League Control Condition<br>* The control condition will consist of a recreational sports league that will be led by local American Indian study staff who are experienced with Johns Hopkins camps and community-based Apache sports programs. Activities will be conducted on 3 Saturdays during the academic year to mixed gender groups of approximately 50 participants.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Decreased substance use as measured by Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) in treatment vs. control group at 24 months follow-up |  | 24 months follow-up | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Decreased depressive symptoms on Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) in treatment vs. control group at 24 months follow-up |  | 24 months follow-up | 
| Increased academic achievement as measured by school records and Across Time Orientation measure in treatment vs. control group at 24 months follow-up |  | 24 months follow-up | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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American Indian, Adolescents, Entrepreneurship, Paraprofessional, Life skills