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NCT Number: NCT06736522

Future Leaders Program: Testing a Youth Leadership, Engagement, and Mindfulness Program

The current study tests the feasibility and effectiveness of a youth intervention designed to provide meaningful leadership opportunities through the acquisition of leadership skills as well as mindfulness practice, LEAP: Leadership, Engagement, and youth Action Program with Mindfulness.

The goal of this project is to determine whether the Leadership, Engagement, and youth Action Program with Mindfulness (LEAP) curriculum, which was developed with youth, is a feasible and effective intervention for fostering leadership and well-being. The investigators seek to understand whether LEAP can support wellbeing for youth as a strategy to increase youth mental, emotional, and behavioral (MEB) health.

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Key information

Conditions

Adolescent Behavior Problem Mental Health Wellness 1

Age range

14 year and older

Sex eligibility

All sexes

Study type

Interventional

Phase

Not applicable

Primary location

University of Illinois, Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, United States

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About this study

The LEAP study will determine whether a 14-session program designed to provide leadership and mindfulness skills to youth is an effective and feasible intervention. The curriculum consists of 14 two-hour sessions delivered after school. The comparison group will take part in EnvisionIT, a college and career readiness program designed for students in grades 6 through 12. EnvisionIT aims to prepare students with essential skills including digital literacy, and college and career readiness. The comparison group will also have 14 two-hour group sessions. Both LEAP and EnvisionIT will be delivered by trained facilitators. All participants in LEAP and EnvisionIT will be assessed at four time points; facilitators will also complete interviews post-intervention and provide feedback on data fidelity and acceptability following each session. This record reports on the UH3 phase of the grant.

Who can participate

Healthy volunteers accepted: Yes

Only the study team can determine whether someone qualifies for participation.

Inclusion criteria

  • Adolescents ages 14 and older in grades 9-12 during the Fall/Winter or in grades 9-11 during the Spring
  • Enrolled in a partner site in Massachusetts or Illinois
  • Adolescents are only included with parent consent and youth assent if they are under the age of 18. Adolescents at least 18 years old can provide consent.

Exclusion criteria

  • They participated in the pilot phase (UG3)
  • They cannot commit to participation in the full study (e.g., attendance at all intervention sessions)
  • They are not in grades 9-12 at a partner site
  • Parent/guardian has a preferred consent language other than English or Spanish.

Treatment and study plan

Leadership, Engagement, and youth Action Program with Mindfulness

Behavioral

The Leadership, Engagement, and youth Action Program with Mindfulness intervention (LEAP) was designed and co-created with youth to improve youth well-being by enhancing leadership opportunities and by developing mindfulness in day-to-day life. LEAP seeks to foster these improvements in youth and to increase youth mental, emotional, and behavioral health. Youth voice is incorporated into the intervention, with facilitators leading the first 7 sessions, and youth leading the remainder.

Other names: LEAP

EnvisionIT

Behavioral

Participants in this arm will receive 14 sessions of EnvisionIT training, focused on preparing students with essential skills including digital literacy through competency in information technology, financial literacy, English language arts skills, and college and career readiness. All sessions will be delivered by facilitators trained in EnvisionIT.

Primary outcomes

  1. Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness, and Happiness (EPOCH; Kern et al., 2016) measure of adolescent wellbeing

    Time frame: Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 months

    20-item, 5-point scale measuring five positive characteristics that support higher levels of wellbeing: Engagement, Perseverance, Optimism, Connectedness, and Happiness. The scale range is 1-5, higher scores indicate better wellbeing.

  2. Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 2001)

    Time frame: Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 months

    25 item multiple choice questionnaire that measures internalizing and externalizing problems and prosocial behavior (emotional, conduct, hyperactivity-inattention, peer, prosocial). The scale range is 0-40, higher scores indicate worse difficulties.

  3. Self-Rated Health 12-item Short-Form Survey (SF-12; Ware et al., 1996)

    Time frame: Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 months

    12 item 5-point survey measuring general health, asking about overall health self-rating, ability to do daily activities, energy levels, and physical and emotional limitations. The scale range is 0-100, higher scores indicate better health.

Secondary outcomes

  1. Student Career Construction Inventory (Savickas, 2018)

    Time frame: Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 months

    18 item measure 5-point survey measuring crystallizing a vocational self-concept, exploring to gather information about occupations, deciding to commit to an occupational choice, and preparing to implement that choice. Scale scores range from 1-5, with higher scores indicating greater focus on each of the four tasks of career choice construction.

  2. Vocational Skills Self-Efficacy (VSSE; McWhirter et al., 2000)

    Time frame: Baseline, 2-3 months, 6 months, 9 months

    29 item 5-point survey measuring level of confidence to establish and work toward job goals. Scale scores range from 29-145, with higher scores indicating greater vocational self-efficacy.

Study contacts

Contact information is provided by the study sponsor or research team.

Jennifer Greif Green, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

617-353-3253

Mario Cruz-Gonzalez, PhD

CONTACT

[email protected]

617-513-8762

Sponsors and collaborators

Lead sponsor

Boston University Charles River Campus

Other

Collaborators

  • National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

Registry information

Official study title

Can A Youth Leadership and Mindfulness Program Support Well-being in Adolescence?

Acronym: FLP

Important dates

Study start
2024
Primary completion
2028
Study completion
2028
First posted
Dec 16, 2024
Registry last updated
Jun 4, 2026

OpenTrials presents study information sourced from ClinicalTrials.gov. The official registry record should be consulted for the latest information.

View the official ClinicalTrials.gov record (opens in a new tab)

This listing is for discovery and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not guarantee that a study is recruiting, and does not determine eligibility. Contact the study team and a qualified healthcare professional when considering participation.

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