Clinical trial NCT04514133: Testing the Causal Effects of a Civic Engagement Intervention on Health and Wellbeing Among Youth (I-ACTED)
Official title: The I-ACTED Study: Testing the Causal Effects of a Civic Engagement Intervention on Health and Wellbeing Among Youth
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Mental Health Wellness 1
Social Interaction
Health Attitude
Keywords: civic engagement
health
social wellbeing
behavioral health
Lead sponsor: Wake Forest University Health Sciences
Sponsor class: OTHER
Collaborators: name: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
First posted: 2020-08-14
Enrollment: 2500
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 10
Maximum age (years): 20
Standard ages: CHILD
ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: BASIC_SCIENCE

Brief summary: The purpose of this research is to understand how participating or not participating in an action civics curriculum may affect the health and wellbeing of young people. Participants will be chosen from students who attend certain schools that choose to participate in the action civics curriculum. Participation in this research involves completing surveys during class time in the Spring and Fall 2021-2022 semesters and then completing online surveys outside of class in the future.

Detailed description: Equal access to civic resources, such as opportunities for civic engagement and connections to one's community, are an important part of a culture of health. Meaningful experiences in civic engagement and community connectedness are transformative for young people - especially for youth from marginalized backgrounds, who often feel voiceless and excluded from decision-making in civic and social institutions. Theories and correlational evidence point to positive associations between civic engagement (e.g., volunteering, voting, and feelings of civic empowerment) and better mental, physical, and behavioral health and wellbeing. Meaningful civic engagement experiences may have an especially powerful effect on health and wellbeing for those from traditionally marginalized backgrounds. However, causal pathways between civic interventions, civic outcomes, and health and wellbeing outcomes among are not firmly established. Further, how civic engagement and sense of community affect health and wellbeing outcomes are unknown, and questions remain about for whom these effects may be especially beneficial. In this study, we ask whether an established civic intervention called Action Civics affects civic engagement and sense of community, and subsequently affects health and wellbeing among youth. To build on these observational findings, the study team will: (a) examine the causal links between youth civic engagement and sense of community and health, and (b) test whether an established school-based, civic engagement intervention can affect individual health and wellbeing and equity outcomes.

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Currently enrolled Middle or High School student
* Enrolled in a course with a teacher from a school participating in the study

Primary outcomes:
measure: Youth Inventory of Involvement (activism, political engagement, and leadership items)
timeFrame: Baseline
measure: Youth Inventory of Involvement (activism, political engagement, and leadership items)
timeFrame: 4-6 month following baseline
measure: Youth Inventory of Involvement (activism, political engagement, and leadership items)
timeFrame: 1 year following baseline
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Community Connection Scale
timeFrame: baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
measure: Questionnaire from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health
timeFrame: baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
Other outcomes:
measure: Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D)
timeFrame: baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
measure: Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance use Tool part 2 (TAPS- 2)
timeFrame: baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
measure: The World Health Organization- Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5)
timeFrame: baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
measure: Social wellbeing-School Absences
timeFrame: baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
measure: Social wellbeing-Purpose tool
timeFrame: baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
Locations:
city: Winston-Salem
country: United States
facility: Wake Forest School of Medicine
state: North Carolina
Study officials:
affiliation: Assistant Professor
name: Parissa J Ballard, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Ballard PJ, Cohen AK, Littenberg-Tobias J. Action Civics for Promoting Civic Development: Main Effects of Program Participation and Differences by Project Characteristics. Am J Community Psychol. 2016 Dec;58(3-4):377-390. doi: 10.1002/ajcp.12103.
citation: Ballard PJ, Hoyt LT, Pachucki MC. Impacts of Adolescent and Young Adult Civic Engagement on Health and Socioeconomic Status in Adulthood. Child Dev. 2019 Jul;90(4):1138-1154. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12998. Epub 2018 Jan 23.