NCT06019377 Intervention to Enhance Coping and Help-seeking Among Youth in Foster Care
| NCT ID | NCT06019377 |
| Status | Recruiting |
| Phase | — |
| Sponsor | Portland State University |
| Condition | Adolescent Behavior |
| Study Type | INTERVENTIONAL |
| Enrollment | 106 participants |
| Start Date | 2024-04-22 |
| Primary Completion | 2026-03-31 |
Eligibility & Interventions
Eligibility Fast-Check
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What to Expect as a Participant
You will actively receive the study intervention — which may be a drug, biologic, device, or procedure.
This trial targets 106 participants in total. It began in 2024-04-22 with a primary completion date of 2026-03-31.
⚠ This information is for research awareness only. Always consult your physician before joining any clinical trial. Participation is voluntary and you may withdraw at any time.
Brief Summary
This study will deploy a scalable secondary prevention program that leverages existing foster youth transition services to improve mental health functioning and service use before and after exiting foster care. Our short-term objective is to remotely test a group intervention called Stronger Youth Networks and Coping (SYNC) that targets cognitive schemas influencing stress responses, including mental health help-seeking and service engagement, among foster youth with behavioral health risk. SYNC aims to increase youth capacity to appraise stress and regulate emotional responses, to flexibly select adaptive coping strategies, and to promote informal and formal help-seeking as an effective coping strategy. The proposed aims will establish whether the 10-module program engages the targeted proximal mechanisms with a signal of efficacy on clinically-relevant outcomes, and whether a fully-powered randomized control trial (RCT) of SYNC is feasible in the intended service context. Our first aim is to refine our SYNC curriculum and training materials, prior to testing SYNC in a remote single-arm trial with two cohorts of 8-10 Oregon foster youth aged 16-20 (N=26). Our second aim is to conduct a remote two-arm individually-randomized group treatment trial with Oregon foster youth aged 16-20 with indicated behavioral health risk (N=80) to examine: (a) intervention group change on proximal mechanisms of coping self-efficacy and help-seeking attitudes, compared to services-as-usual at post-intervention and 6-month follow-up: and (b) association between the mechanisms and targeted outcomes, including emotional regulation, coping behaviors, mental health service use, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD. Our third aim is to refine and standardize the intervention and research protocol for an effectiveness trial, including confirming transferability with national stakeholders.
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria: * Eligible to receive federally-funded transition-related services in Oregon (ages 16-20 and in foster care at least 90 days after they turned age 14), * Indicated behavioral health risk. Behavioral health risk is indicated by child welfare administrative indicators of lifetime behavioral health need or service involvement (DSM diagnoses, psychotropic medication, emotional-behavioral disability, congregate care/residential placement) Exclusion Criteria: * Inability to actively participate in the intervention, including you who are: non-English speaking, significantly developmentally disabled, or where participation is otherwise contraindicated (e.g., youth is in crisis, youth is in a placement that will not allow for participation)
Contact & Investigator
Jennifer Blakeslee, PhD,MSW,BS
PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Portland State University
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can join the NCT06019377 clinical trial?
This trial is open to participants of all sexes, aged 16 Years or older, up to 20 Years, studying Adolescent Behavior. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria are listed in the Eligibility Criteria section. Always confirm your eligibility with the research team before applying.
Is NCT06019377 currently recruiting?
Yes, NCT06019377 is actively recruiting participants. Contact the research team at jblakes@pdx.edu for enrollment information.
Where is the NCT06019377 trial being conducted?
This trial is being conducted at Portland, United States.
Who is sponsoring the NCT06019377 clinical trial?
NCT06019377 is sponsored by Portland State University. The principal investigator is Jennifer Blakeslee, PhD,MSW,BS at Portland State University. The trial plans to enroll 106 participants.