Clinical trial NCT02378051: Staying Strong With Schools - A School-Based Resilience Support Intervention for Military-Connected Children
Official title: Staying Strong With Schools - A School-Based Resilience Support Intervention for Military-Connected Children: A Preliminary Examination of Efficacy
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: COMPLETED
Phase: NA
Conditions: Staying Strong With Schools Intervention
Waitlist Control
Lead sponsor: Massachusetts General Hospital
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2015-03-04
Enrollment: 190
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 6
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: SINGLE_GROUP
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: The purpose of this study is to examine whether Staying Strong With Schools, a school-based intervention to support military-connected children, will be helpful for school professionals and military parents in supporting specific needs of this population of children. As part of the partnership between three school districts in Massachusetts and the Red Sox Foundation and Massachusetts General Hospital Home Base Program, the investigators will examine the efficacy of a training delivered to these schools. The schools will be randomly divided into two groups (like a toss of a coin). Half of the schools will receive the training in 2014-2015, and the other half will be waitlisted and receive the training the following year (2015-2016). All participants (school teachers, military-connected children, and their parents) will be asked to complete questionnaires the first year. The investigators hypothesize that, compared to the control schools, at the end of the school year, SSWS schools will be associated with: (1) greater sense of competence and quality of relationships with military-connected children (MCC) among school professionals; (2) lower parental distress and increased parental sense of competence and general family functioning; and (3) increased social support, and fewer academic, emotional, and behavioral problems among MCC. The investigators hypothesize that an increase in school professionals' sense of competence in identifying and handling MCC's needs, increased quality of relationships with MCC, lower parental distress, increased parental sense of competence, and increased general family functioning will mediate the efficacy of SSWS on MCC's social support and psychosocial functioning.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* For school teachers: age 18 or older, employed as teacher in a participating school, willingness to participate in the intervention and able to participate in the informed consent process.
* For military-connected children: age \< 18, and currently in grade 1 through 6, student in a participating school, at least one parent who currently serves, or had served in the military since 9/11/01, children without a participating classroom teacher will not receive teacher-rated assessments, but will not be excluded from the school based intervention, parent gives permission for child to participate.
* For military parents: male or female, age 18 or older, parent of a child enrolled in one of the participating schools, parent or co-parent currently serves, or had served in the military since 9/11/01, parent of a military-connected child that is eligible to participate, willing to participate, and able to give informed consent, and permission to release test scores, and have their child participate in SSWS, and self-report, parental and teachers' assessments.

Exclusion Criteria:

* For teachers: unable to attend the initial training, unable to participate in the informed consent process.
* For military-connected children: decline participation, determination by the principal or teacher that participation would not be in the military-connected child's best interest for any reason.
* For military parents: unable to participate in the informed consent process.

Primary outcomes:
measure: The Teachers' Sense of Efficacy Scale
timeFrame: up to two years
measure: The Student-Teacher Relationship Scale
timeFrame: up to two years
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Parenting Sense of Competence Scale
timeFrame: up to two years
measure: Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale
timeFrame: up to two years
measure: McMaster Family Assessment Device
timeFrame: up to two years
measure: Behavior Assessment System for Children, Second Edition
timeFrame: up to two years
measure: Child and Adolescent Social Support Scale
timeFrame: up to two years
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Cambridge
country: United States
facility: Community Charter School
state: Massachusetts
city: East Falmouth
country: United States
facility: East Falmouth Elementary School
state: Massachusetts
city: Falmouth
country: United States
facility: Morse Pond School
state: Massachusetts
city: Falmouth
country: United States
facility: Mullen-Hall School
state: Massachusetts
city: Falmouth
country: United States
facility: North Falmouth Elementary School
state: Massachusetts
city: Hyannis
country: United States
facility: Hyannis West Elementary School
state: Massachusetts
city: Marstons Mills
country: United States
facility: Barnstable United Elementary School
state: Massachusetts
city: Marstons Mills
country: United States
facility: West Villages Elementary School
state: Massachusetts
city: Teaticket
country: United States
facility: Teaticket Elementary School
state: Massachusetts
city: West Barnstable
country: United States
facility: West Barnstable Elementary School
state: Massachusetts
Study officials:
affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital
name: T.H. Eric Bui, MD, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
affiliation: Massachusetts General Hospital
name: Bonnie Ohye, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References: