Assessment of a Drama Workshop Program for Immigrant and Refugee Adolescents

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to determine whether a drama workshop program for immigrant and refugee youth is effective in reducing impairment in high school students presenting learning difficulties.

Official Title
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Assessment of a Drama Workshop Program for Immigrant and Refugee Adolescents

Conditions
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Learning Disabilities

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Group tutoring program
* Other: Theatre workshops


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: All students who are assigned to special classes based on behavioural or learning problems in grades 7-10 in the participating schools will participate in the program and be included in the study if they and their parents consent to in the research. Exclusion Criteria: More severe cases

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 12 Years
Maximum Age: 17 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

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


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Theatre intervention<br>The theatre expression workshops will run for 12 weeks, with one 75-minute workshop per week. They will be incorporated into the regular class timetable and will be run by the two members of the intervention team who have training in theatre and psychology, and the homeroom teacher, whose level of direct involvement will increase gradually as he or she becomes familiar with the workshops. | Other: Theatre workshops<br>* The theatre expression workshops will run for 12 weeks, with one 75-minute workshop per week. They will be incorporated into the regular class timetable and will be run by the two members of the intervention team who have training in theatre and psychology, and the homeroom teacher, whose level of direct involvement will increase gradually as he or she becomes familiar with the workshops.<br>|
| Experimental: Group tutoring intervention<br>In each classroom assigned to the tutorship intervention, two academic resource assistants will provide weekly in-class support to students for the same length of time than the drama workshop (75 minutes weekly). Individualized student objectives on reading fluency and math will be implemented (one in math and one in reading per student). | Other: Group tutoring program<br>* Academic in-class intervention that focuses on differentiated academic instruction and improved overall academic adjustment. In each classroom assigned to the tutorship intervention, two academic resource assistants will provide weekly in-class support to students for the same length of time than the drama workshop (75 minutes, once a week), with the teacher present in the classroom.<br>|
| No Intervention: No intervention<br>Classes not participating neither in drama workshops nor in group tutoring activities will fill out a questionnaire as a basis for comparison. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in impairment of emotional and behavioural symptoms reported by youth | Impairment of emotional and behavioural symptoms will be assessed by the Impact Supplement of the SDQ completed by the adolescents. The SDQ is a 25-item Likert scale assessing emotional and behavioural symptoms. This questionnaire includes an impairment measure that enquires about symptoms in terms of chronicity, distress, social impairment, and burden for others. | T0: up to 6 weeks before the intervention, T1: up to 2 weeks after the intervention, T2: between 7 and 8 months after the intervention | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Change in emotional and behavioural symptoms | Will be assessed by the SDQ global scores (teachers and youths reports). | T0: up to 6 weeks before the intervention, T1: up to 2 weeks after the intervention, T2: between 7 and 8 months after the intervention | 
| Change in impairment | Measured by the SDQ (teacher report). | T0: up to 6 weeks before the intervention, T1: up to 2 weeks after the intervention, T2: between 7 and 8 months after the intervention | 
| Change in relations with peers | Will be assessed using the Adolescent Friendship Inventory (AFI) designed by Rubenstein et al. (1989). This 30-item instrument requires the adolescent to indicate to what degree, on a scale of 1 to 5, the feeling expressed by the statement corresponds to his or her personal feelings in relation to his or her network of peers. | T0: up to 6 weeks before the intervention, T1: up to 2 weeks after the intervention, T2: between 7 and 8 months after the intervention | 
| Change in school performance | Will be assessed on the basis of the first and the last report cards of the school year (T0 and T1) and with the first report card of the subsequent year (T2). We will consider students' grades in mathematics and French. | T0: up to 6 weeks before the intervention, T1: up to 2 weeks after the intervention, T2: between 7 and 8 months after the intervention | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Dramatherapy, Group tutoring activities, Impairment, Emotional and behavioural problems, Learning difficulties