Treatment Comparison for Undergraduate College Students With Traumatic Brain Injury

Beyond the Dynamic Coaching Model: A Treatment Comparison for Undergraduate College Students With Traumatic Brain Injury

Up to 28% of undergraduate college students report a suspected history of traumatic brain injury. Following traumatic brain injury, college students fail and repeat more courses and have lower grade point averages. Further complicating this problem may be the fact that college students lack knowledge of traumatic brain injury definition, its associated symptoms, and individuals involved in post-injury management. In this project, the investigators propose to compare the use of an established treatment model (i.e., the Dynamic Coaching Model) to a novel protocol (i.e., the Apprenticeship Approach) that includes explicit instruction about traumatic brain injury in college students with this population. The investigators will use a group comparison design to examine the efficacy of this instructional component. This work incorporates findings from educational psychology and speech-language pathology (e.g., the included instructional materials adhere to the principles of adult learning). As such, this work will advance the field's basic understanding of currently recommended treatment components and will systematically examine the effects of incorporating explicit instruction into an existing treatment model.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Traumatic Brain Injury; Concussion, Brain
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Dynamic Coaching Model; Behavioral: Apprenticeship Approach

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 12
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Arizona
    • Tucson, Arizona, United States, 85721
      • University of Arizona

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• a documented history of mild, moderate, or severe traumatic brain injury no more than 36 months prior to study initiation
• speak English as a primary language
• at least 18 years of age
• demonstrate no barriers related to hearing, vision, reading, or technology that prevent successful experimental task completion.

Exclusion Criteria:

• no documented history of mild, moderate, or severe traumatic brain injury
• injury occurred more than 36 months prior to study initiation
• do not speak English as a primary language
• are not at least 18 years of age
• demonstrate barriers related to hearing, vision, reading, or technology that prevent successful experimental task completion.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: Double

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Dynamic Coaching Model; The Dynamic Coaching Model is an established treatment approach that entails training college students with executive function impairments (e.g., those with a history of traumatic brain injury) to rely on their own executive functions in order to problem solve and reason in real-life situations requiring them to do so (e.g., taking college classes).	Behavioral: Dynamic Coaching Model; This is a behavioral intervention which includes metacognitive strategy training and personalized strategy and external aid use training.
Experimental: Apprenticeship Approach for College Students; The Apprenticeship Approach is a novel treatment approach that incorporates explicit education about: (a) traumatic brain injury definition; (b) traumatic brain injury symptomatology; and (c) individuals who may be able to provide assistance to the individual with traumatic brain injury into the existing Dynamic Coaching Model.	Behavioral: Apprenticeship Approach; This is a behavioral intervention which includes explicit education about traumatic brain injury, its symptoms, and individuals who may provide assistance post-injury, metacognitive strategy training and personalized strategy and external aid use training.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in performance on a knowledge questionnaire	adapted from Knollman-Porter et al., 2017	Up to 6 months (conducted once pre-intervention and once post-intervention)
Change in performance on measures of academic achievement	Self-Efficacy Scale (5-point scale)	Up to 6 months (conducted once pre-intervention and once post-intervention)
Change in performance on measures of academic achievement	Self-Compassion Scale Short Form (5-point scale)	Up to 6 months (conducted once pre-intervention and once post-intervention)
Change in performance on measures of academic achievement	Growth Mindset Scale (5-point scale)	2 minutes (conducted once pre-intervention and once post-intervention)
Change in performance on subjective confidence rankings	Confidence rankings on a 5-point Likert scale for therapy task performance and functional academic task performance	Up to 6 months (conducted once pre-intervention and once post-intervention)
Performance on subjective intervention satisfaction rankings	Subjective rankings on a 5-point Likert scale for intervention satisfaction, likelihood to recommend intervention to a friend, and desire to continue intervention.	Up to 6 months (conducted one time in each intervention session; i.e., three times total)
Change in performance on a measure of quality of life: QOLIBRI (Quality of Life After Brain Injury)	QOLIBRI (Quality of Life After Brain Injury)	Up to 6 months (conducted once pre-intervention and once post-intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Arizona

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 21, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 14, 2021
• Study Completion (Actual): May 14, 2021

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: October 5, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 12, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): November 13, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 19, 2022
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: May 17, 2022
• Last Verified: May 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Brain Diseases; Central Nervous System Diseases; Nervous System Diseases; Craniocerebral Trauma; Trauma, Nervous System; Head Injuries, Closed; Wounds, Nonpenetrating; Brain Injuries; Wounds and Injuries; Brain Injuries, Traumatic; Brain Concussion
• Other Study ID Numbers: IRB 2010102285

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No