Clinical trial NCT06745934: Strengthening Health and Insight in New Educators
Official title: Healthy Minds for Pre-Service Teachers
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Anxiety Symptoms
Depressive Symptoms
Keywords: Healthy Minds Program
mindfulness-based intervention
app
pre-service teachers
mental health
Lead sponsor: University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
First posted: 2024-12-20
Enrollment: 140
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: Teachers are at notable risk for depression and anxiety. The present study tests an app-based mindfulness intervention for teachers in their final year of training with the goal of preventing the deterioration of their mental health during the transition into the classroom. The project will strengthen the research environment at the University of Alabama and will involve undergraduate research assistants in each step of the research process.

Detailed description: Mental health concerns in teachers have escalated since the onset of the pandemic, and the deterioration of mental health can begin as early as the teacher training period. Accessible and scalable programs that prepare teachers for the stress of the profession are urgently needed to prevent the deterioration of mental health and its attendant consequences. The goal of this longitudinal project is to test the feasibility and acceptability, utility, and candidate mechanisms of an accessible, mobile health, mindfulness-based intervention, the Healthy Minds Program (HMP), to equip teachers in training ("pre-service teachers"; i.e., university students majoring in education) with skills necessary to maintain their mental health as they transition into the classroom. The project addresses three specific aims. Aim 1: a) Assess the feasibility and acceptability of the HMP for pre-service teachers and b) identify barriers and facilitators to program acceptability. Aim 2: Determine the utility of the HMP for preventing depression and anxiety (main outcomes) and turnover intentions (secondary outcome). Aim 3: Examine HMP effects on candidate mechanisms, and the effect of mechanisms on outcomes. The results of this project will provide critical insight into the potential for the HMP to scale up for widespread use in pre-service teacher training programs. Importantly, the project will provide a unique opportunity for undergraduate research at the University of Alabama, and will strengthen the research environment by involving undergraduate research assistants in each step of the research process.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Students in Block 3 will be invited to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

* Students who are not in Block 3 will be excluded. Participants experiencing suicidal ideations at baseline and deemed via the clinical risk assessment procedure to be at moderate or high risk of suicide will be excluded from the study after baseline, and prior to randomization.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Depression - Short Form 8b
timeFrame: Participants will report on depression at baseline, post-intervention (3 months after baseline), 3-month follow-up , and 12-month follow-up.
measure: Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Anxiety - Short Form 7a
timeFrame: Participants will report on anxiety at baseline, post-intervention (3 months after baseline), 3-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up.
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Turnover Intentions
timeFrame: Participants will report turnover intentions at 3-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up.
Other outcomes:
measure: Teaching Quality: edTPA
timeFrame: edTPA scores will be collected immediately after the intervention.
measure: Teaching Quality: Candidate Preservice Assessment of Student Teaching (CPAST)
timeFrame: CPAST scores will be collected immediately after the intervention.
Locations:
city: Tuscaloosa
country: United States
facility: University of Alabama
state: Alabama
Study officials:
References: