Testing the Causal Effects of a Civic Engagement Intervention on Health and Wellbeing Among Youth (I-ACTED)

Mental Health Wellness 1 Clinical Trial

— I-ACTED  

Official title:

The I-ACTED Study: Testing the Causal Effects of a Civic Engagement Intervention on Health and Wellbeing Among Youth

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Recruiting

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT04514133
• Other study ID #: IRB00066103
• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Start date: June 24, 2021
• Est. completion date: December 2026

Study information

• Verified date: August 2023
• Source: Wake Forest University Health Sciences
• Contact: Parissa J Ballard, PhD
• Phone: 336-716-0793
• Email: pballard[@]wakehealth.edu
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial 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.

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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Recruiting
• Enrollment: 1500
• Est. completion date: December 2026
• Est. primary completion date: June 2026
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 10 Years to 20 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

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

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Health Attitude
• Mental Health Wellness 1
• Social Interaction

Intervention

Behavioral:
• Participating in Action Civics program
Students in school classrooms participating in Action Civics program

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Wake Forest School of Medicine	Winston-Salem	North Carolina

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Wake Forest University Health Sciences	Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

References & Publications (2)

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. — View 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. — View Citation

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Other	Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression (CES-D)	CES-D measures depressive symptoms using a 1-4 range (1=Rarely or none of the time, 2=Some or a little of the time, 3=Occasionally or a moderate amount of time, 4=All of the time). Higher scores CES-D suggest a greater presence of depressive symptoms.	baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
Other	Tobacco, Alcohol, Prescription medication, and other Substance use Tool part 2 (TAPS- 2)	Behavioral health symptoms will be measured using adapted items from part 2 of the TAPS questionnaire using a 1-4 range (1=never, 2=once or twice, 3=monthly, 4=weekly or more). Scores on these questions generate a risk level per substance endorsed, based on a range of possible scores per substance.	baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
Other	The World Health Organization- Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5)	WHO5 measures general wellbeing. Responses ranges from 0-25, with 25 representing best possible quality of life.	baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
Other	Social wellbeing-School Absences	Responses are counted as a continuous variable (number of class days missed) to generate a value.	baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
Other	Social wellbeing-Purpose tool	Items measure future aspirations/goals using a Likert scale (1-5) with higher composite scores indicating better social wellbeing.	baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
Primary	Youth Inventory of Involvement (activism, political engagement, and leadership items)	Questionnaire measures civic engagement using a Likert scale (1-5) with higher composite scores indicating more involvement in each domain	Baseline
Primary	Youth Inventory of Involvement (activism, political engagement, and leadership items)	Questionnaire measures civic engagement using a Likert scale (1-5) with higher composite scores indicating more involvement in each domain	4-6 month following baseline
Primary	Youth Inventory of Involvement (activism, political engagement, and leadership items)	Questionnaire measures civic engagement using a Likert scale (1-5) with higher composite scores indicating more involvement in each domain	1 year following baseline
Secondary	Community Connection Scale	Questionnaire measures sense of community using a Likert scale (1-5) with higher scores indicating higher sense of community. Based on from the California Healthy Kids Survey.	baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline
Secondary	Questionnaire from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health	Questionnaire measures physical and mental health and wellbeing. Response options vary from 4-6 levels for the scales; higher numbers indicate better health.	baseline, 4-6 month following baseline, 1 year following baseline