Science Engagement to Empower Disadvantaged adoleScents (SEEDS Project)

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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SEEDS is a multicenter 24-month citizen science (CS) cluster randomized controlled study, with interventions conducted in four European countries acting as pilot sites: 1) Greece, 2) The Netherlands, 3) Spain and 4) The United Kingdom. This project will merge CS and traditional approaches and will target high schools located in deprived neighborhoods. The methodology, that combines CS and traditional science, could build effective cooperation between science and society to empower adolescents from low-income environments to adopt healthy lifestyles to prevent obesity, increase their interest in science and improve their critical thinking.

Detailed Description
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SEEDS is a multicenter 24-month citizen science (CS) cluster randomized controlled study, with interventions conducted in four European countries acting as pilot sites: 1) Greece, 2) The Netherlands, 3) Spain and 4) The United Kingdom. This project will merge CS and traditional approaches and will target high schools located in deprived neighborhoods. The methodology, that combines CS and traditional science, could build effective cooperation between science and society to empower adolescents from low-income environments to adopt healthy lifestyles to prevent obesity, increase their interest in science and improve their critical thinking. The aim is to engage teenagers on this citizen science project to collaborate in all phases of the study: problem definition, data collection, analyses and dissemination. This will empower them to change habits, thereby contributing to behavioural changes. This cluster-randomized control trial involves intervention and control high-schools from deprived areas in the Netherlands, England, Greece and Spain. Teenagers with leadership skills from intervention schools (called ambassadors) and stakeholders will participate in focus groups to gain insights on the barriers and facilitators for healthy lifestyles of teenagers, and how science could help address these. Building on the information of the focus groups, ambassadors, stakeholders and other peers will participate in a collaborative competition event where the SEEDS intervention(s) will be designed. The intervention(s) will be implemented at intervention high-schools. Outcomes in health behaviours and science literacy will be assessed by validated questionnaires at the start and end of the project.

Official Title
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Science Engagement to Empower Disadvantaged adoleScents (SEEDS Project)

Conditions
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Healthy Lifestyle

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Intervention Group


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria per high schools: High schools located in deprived areas. Deprived areas will be selected according to what is considered an area with a low socioeconomic level according to each country. Informed consent must be signed by the responsible of each high-school. Exclusion Criteria per high schools: The non-completion of one of the inclusion criteria. Inclusion Criteria per participants: Adolescents aged 13- to 15-years at baseline who attended one of the participating high schools, previously randomized. Informed consent must be signed by their parents/legal guardians and by each adolescent. Exclusion Criteria per participants: The non-completion of one of the inclusion criteria.

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
Interventional Model Description: High schools located in deprived areas will be randomized to the intervention group (IG) which will receive the whole citizen science intervention of the SEEDS project, or the controls group (CG) which will not receive any kind of intervention. As the high-schools will be the unit of randomization, this study is a cluster-randomized.
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Citizen Science Behavioral Intervention<br>The intervention group (IG) participants will receive the whole citizen science intervention of the SEEDS project, and participants will be assessed at baseline and end-of-study. | Behavioral: Intervention Group<br>* Teenagers with leadership skills from intervention schools (called ambassadors) and stakeholders will participate in focus groups to gain insights on the barriers and facilitators for healthy lifestyles of teenagers, and how science could help address these. Building on the information of the focus groups, ambassadors, stakeholders and other peers will participate in a collaborative competition event where the SEEDS intervention(s) will be designed. The intervention(s) will be implemented at intervention high-schools during 6 months. Outcomes in health behaviours and science literacy will be assessed by validated questionnaires at the start and end of the project.<br>|
| No Intervention: Control Group (No intervention)<br>The controls group (CG) participants will not receive any kind of intervention, and participants will only be assessed at baseline and end-of-study. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Physical activity | Change in physical activity assessed by validated questionnaire HBSC and Physical Activity Questionnaire for Children (PAQ-C). HBSC: days a week physically active for a total of at least 60 minutes, frequency of exercise in free time that participants get out of breath or sweat and means of transport to go to school. PAQ-C: 7-day recall questionnaire that assesses participation in different physical activities, as well as activity during Physical Education, lunch break, recess, after school, in the evenings and at weekends. Each of the 9 questionnaire items is scored between 1 (low) and 5 (high physical activity), and a mean score of all items constitutes the overall PAQ score. | Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) | 
| Snacking choices | Change in healthy snacking choices (inside and outside school). This outcome will be assessed by validated questionnaires HBSC (times per week consume healthy and unhealthy snacking choices) and Beverage Frequency Questionnaire ( 7-day food record of beverages). Additionally, questions for assessing the frequency of consumption (times per week and time frame of the day) of each type of snack (chocolates, fruit and vegs, cakes or cookies and chocolates and sweets). | Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) | 
| Sedentary time | Change in prolonged sedentary time. This outcome will be assessed by validated questionnaire HBSC (hours/day spend watching television/ playing computer games/ on computer for purposes other than playing). | Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) | 
| Youth interest in life science | Changes in life science interest. This outcome will be measure by STEM interest survey. | Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) | 
| Science capital perception and interest | Changes in science capital.This outcome will be measure by Science Capital Survey, developed by Archer et al. (2015): The selection of questions includes 4 components of the total Science Capital Survey: Future science job affinity (aspirations), utility of science qualifications, valuing science and scientists, and self-efficacy in science. | Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) | 
| Youth interest in science technology engineering and math (STEM) career. | Changes in STEM career. This outcome will be measure by Attitude towards STEM questionnaire. | Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Health-related behaviour | Health-related behaviour chosen by the ambassadors (each country could decide to include or not): this outcome will be decided after focus group, considering that SEEDS project is an extreme CS project, and ambassadors should be involved in the whole process and choose at least one of the three outcomes. The tool for evaluating this outcome will be developed for each country after focus groups implementation. | Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) | 
| Determinants of each of the behaviours | According to the Theory of Planned Behaviour, the main determinants of behaviour are attitude, beliefs, subjective norms and perceived control, which all shape the behavioural intentions. For this purpose, several questions will be included to assess the determinants of behaviours, mainly related to attitudes and environmental factors, also considering the results of the focus groups, according to the guidelines. | Change from Baseline to end-of-study (6-month) | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Healthy Lifestyle, Science Interest, Adolescents, Deprived, Citizen Science