Clinical trial NCT06380569: A Strength-Based Intervention to Improve Job Interview Skills in Young Adults in a Community Setting
Official title: A Strength-Based Intervention to Improve Job Interview Skills in Young Adults in a Community Setting
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
Lead sponsor: Kessler Foundation
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2024-04-24
Enrollment: 30
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 14
Maximum age (years): 26
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Intervention model description: Kessler Foundation Strength Identification and Expression (KF-STRIDE®)
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The investigators are looking to evaluate how effective a strength-based intervention may be in improving job interview skills in young adults. The investigators are examining the effects of this intervention in young adults who may have difficulty with job interviews, and who may want to improve these skills.

Detailed description: The investigators have developed KF-STRIDE, a promising web-based intervention which focuses on helping autistic transition age youth improve interview skills by 1) learning to identify their unique employable strengths, and 2) practice speaking about those strengths to potential employers in socially appropriate ways. The inability to express one's strengths to a potential employer can negatively affect interview performance and lead to difficulty with job obtainment. Importantly, KF-STRIDE is web-based, so it is highly scalable, and uses well-established principles of positive psychology. The investigators' pilot data evaluating KF-STRIDE in a lab-based setting indicates that after using KF-STRIDE, users experience increased knowledge of their personal strengths and improved job interview skills. However, KF-STRIDE's effectiveness in a real-world setting has not been established. Kessler Foundation (KF) Center for Autism Research will partner with Spectrum Works (or other community partner) (see letter of support) to implement and evaluate KF-STRIDE in a real-world setting. Spectrum Works is a non-profit organization which provides job training and employment opportunities to autistic youth. In the current study, KF-STRIDE will be implemented at Spectrum Works (or other community partner) by Spectrum Work staff members (trained by KF staff).

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

Lives in the United States of America Between the ages of 14-26 Speaks English well and at a 4th grade reading level

Exclusion Criteria:

Had a stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, or neurological injury or disease in the past(like brain tumor or epilepsy) Has a history of significant psychiatric illness(like schizophrenia or psychosis) Has uncontrolled seizures or other unstable medical complications

Primary outcomes:
measure: Mock Job Interview
timeFrame: Baseline, Immediate Post-Test between weeks 7 and 8
measure: Employment Status
timeFrame: Baseline, Immediate Post-Test, and 6 months Post-Test
measure: Time-to-reach Employment
timeFrame: 6 months Post-Test
measure: Strength Knowledge and Strengths Use Scale (SKUS)
timeFrame: Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
measure: Youth Interview- Self Efficacy and Anxiety
timeFrame: Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
measure: Job Search Behavior Scale
timeFrame: Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
measure: Work Readiness Scale
timeFrame: Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
measure: Global Assessment of Character Strengths (GACS)
timeFrame: Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES)
timeFrame: Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: East Hanover
country: United States
facility: Kessler Foundation
state: New Jersey
Study officials:
affiliation: Kessler Foundation
name: Helen Genova, Ph. D.
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: