Evaluation of the Aevidum Curriculum and Club

Aevidum: Preliminary Evidence to Showcase a Student-Led Mental Health Program

The study purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of the Aevidum curriculum (plus/minus club) to improve adolescent mental health knowledge, help-seeking intentions, and school culture. Investigators will partner with 12 high schools for this study. Prior to the start of the 2021-2022 academic year, schools will be recruited and randomly assigned to implement the Aevidum curriculum (n=6) or the curriculum and club (n=6). Please note, ultimately a total of 10 schools were recruited, with 5 assigned to each arm.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Mental Health Wellness 1
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: Aevidum curriculum; Other: Club

Detailed Description

Aevidum was established in 2009 as a student-led initiative to raise awareness and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness. Their mental health curriculum and club activities are currently used in over 300 schools in Pennsylvania and surrounding states. In comparison to current interventions, Aevidum is unique in that it provides students the opportunity to build a strong support system among peers. Aevidum's curriculum and club activities provide an opportunity for schools and students to engage with mental health and suicide prevention materials with a student-directed method. Youth voice is a powerful tool that schools and communities can utilize to make mental health and suicide prevention programming more impactful. Allowing youth the chance to lead and let their voices be heard can create greater buy-in for activities.

At present, there is not a strong evidence-base for the efficacy of student-led initiatives that aid in reaching mandated Act 71 curriculum standards for mental health and suicide prevention. Aevidum lacks an evidence-base for its curriculum and club programming, which is freely available to schools. To continue offering free resources, while also maintaining and updating these resources to ensure they are innovative and best reflect student needs, Aevidum needs to establish an evidence-base to support future funding. This project plans to evaluate the effectiveness of these efforts in supporting adolescent mental health. Results will be used to inform school-based mental health programming and to establish an evidence-base for the Aevidum program, furthering mental health awareness and education, while also reducing mental health stigma.

While set up as a randomized clinical trial, this portion of the study is largely exploratory and has not be formally powered. Knowledge, help-seeking, school environment/stigma and program visibility will be assessed both in a pre/post assessment and compared between study arms as follows:

Aim 1: Assess Aevidum's curriculum in improving students' mental health knowledge and help-seeking intentions.

Hypothesis: Exposure to Aevidum's five module mental health curriculum will result in significant improvements in knowledge and help seeking intentions between pre- and post-survey measures using the published University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment among the 6 schools assigned to curriculum only.

Aim 2: Assess the combination of Aevidum's curriculum AND club activities to improve student perceptions of school culture.

Hypothesis: Exposure to both curriculum and club activities will have the added benefit of improving school environment/stigma and program visibility in addition to knowledge and help-seeking on the Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment among the 6 schools assigned to curriculum + club.

In secondary statistical analysis, the curriculum-only schools will be compared to the curriculum plus club activities schools directly.

Specifically: 1) Compare students from schools in Aim 1 (curriculum only) to those in Aim 2 (curriculum plus club) regarding changes in knowledge, help-seeking behavior, school environment/stigma and program visibility.

2) Compare the impact on 9th graders in curriculum schools versus 9th graders in curriculum plus club schools (curriculum will specifically be delivered to 9th grade students at all participating high schools).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 2557
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• United States
  • Pennsylvania
    • Hershey, Pennsylvania, United States, 17033
      • Penn State College of Medicine

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 13 years to 21 years (Child, Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Students (in grades 9-12; this is typically ages 14-18 years though a broader span was provided above) and staff from participating schools.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students not enrolled in one of the participating high schools (n=12)
• Students not in grades 9-12
• Students with disabilities that are deemed unable to participate by the school district
• Non-English speaking students as curriculum and club materials are taught/available in English only at this time

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Prevention
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Active Comparator: Aevidum curriculum; Curriculum: Aevidum has developed a 5-lesson 3-hour mental health curriculum that can be broken up and integrated into existing school health curricula. The study team in partnership with the Executive Director of Aevidum will collaborate with schools to implement the curriculum to their 9th grade students.	Other: Aevidum curriculum; The Aevidum curriculum will be delivered to 9th grade students at participating high schools in both study arms. All school staff who plan to deliver the curriculum will participate in a web-based training workshop with the Aevidum Executive Director.
Active Comparator: Aevidum curriculum + club; Curriculum + club. Schools assigned to the curriculum plus club will also start an Aevidum club at their school. Club basic processes and ideas for events are housed on the Aevidum website. Schools will select faculty and student leaders who will participate in a kickoff web-based training at the start of the academic year. The training is led by current Aevidum student leaders at schools with successful clubs. This is a standard orientation process that Aevidum has run for many years in-person, but has been adapted to a virtual format with the COVID-19 pandemic.	Other: Aevidum curriculum; The Aevidum curriculum will be delivered to 9th grade students at participating high schools in both study arms. All school staff who plan to deliver the curriculum will participate in a web-based training workshop with the Aevidum Executive Director.; Other: Club; Schools will identify ten students interested in participating in an Aevidum club. Following training of interested students, schools are asked to commit to running two Aevidum club activities during the school year.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Knowledge Scores From Baseline (1 of 4)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Response options: 1 Not at all confident, 2-4 Moderately confident, 5-7 Extremely confident Results provided in the outcome measure data table include difference of mean score from pre to post test (95% CI) in each study arm. Statistical analyses include p-values from a mixed effects linear regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Knowledge Scores From Baseline (2 of 4)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: If your friend tells you that he/she is thinking about suicide and asks you to keep it a secret because no one else knows, what do you do? Responses are tell someone (correct) or keep it a secret (incorrect). Results provided in the outcome measure data table include odds of a correct response from pre to post test reported in each study arm as odds ratio (95% CI). Statistical analysis includes the p-value from a mixed effects logistic regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Knowledge Scores From Baseline (3 of 4)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) All responses in this section were true or false. The correct answer (i.e., true or false) to each items is included in the row description below. Results provided in the outcome measure data table include odds of a correct response from pre to post test reported in each study arm as odds ratio (95% CI). Statistical analyses include p-values from a mixed effects logistic regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Knowledge Scores From Baseline (4 of 4)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) The questions in this section asked students to correctly identify these symptoms of depression (dichotomous responses) Results provided in the outcome measure data table include odds of a correct response from pre to post test reported in each study arm as odds ratio (95% CI). Statistical analyses include p-values from a mixed effects logistic regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Help-seeking Intentions Scores From Baseline (1 of 3)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: If you thought that you had depression, how likely is it that you would seek help from the following people or places? Response options: 1 (Not at all likely), 2 (Not too likely), 3 (Somewhat likely), 4 (Very likely) Results provided in the outcome measure data table include difference of mean score from pre to post test (95% CI) in each study arm. Statistical analyses include p-values from a mixed effects linear regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Help-seeking Intentions Scores From Baseline (2 of 3)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Response options yes or no, with preferred answer being "yes" for both items Results provided in the outcome measure data table include odds of a correct response from pre to post test reported in each study arm as odds ratio (95% CI). Statistical analyses include p-values from a mixed effects logistic regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Help-seeking Intentions Scores From Baseline (3 of 3)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: Do you know how to get help in your school? Response options: 1 (Not really), 2 (Sort of), 3 (Definitely) Results provided in the outcome measure data table include difference of mean score from pre to post test (95% CI) in each study arm. Statistical analysis includes the p-value from a mixed effects linear regression model.	baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Perceptions of School Culture Scores From Baseline (1 of 8)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: Imagine that you recently heard about a new student at your school who has depression. To what extent do you agree or disagree with the following statements? Response options: 1 (strongly disagree), 2 (disagree), 3 (neither agree nor disagree), 4 (agree), 5 (strongly agree) Results provided in the outcome measure data table include difference of mean score from pre to post test (95% CI) in each study arm. Statistical analyses include p-values from a mixed effects linear regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Perceptions of School Culture Scores From Baseline (2 of 8)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: On a scale from 1 to 7, if you were seen going into the office of your school social worker or school psychologist, how would you feel? Response options: 1 (Not at all embarrassed), 2, 3, 4 (Moderately embarrassed), 5, 6, 7 (Extremely embarrassed) Results provided in the outcome measure data table include difference of mean score from pre to post test (95% CI) in each study arm. Statistical analysis includes the p-value from a mixed effects linear regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Perceptions of School Culture Scores From Baseline (3 of 8)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: How comfortable are you talking about mental health issues with other students at your school? Response options: 1 (Not at all comfortable), 2, 3, 4 (Moderately comfortable), 5, 6, 7 (Extremely comfortable) Results provided in the outcome measure data table include difference of mean score from pre to post test (95% CI) in each study arm. Statistical analysis includes the p-value from a mixed effects linear regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Perceptions of School Culture Scores From Baseline (4 of 8)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: What mental health issues do you think are most concerning to other students at your school? Response options: dichotomous response for each listed mental health issue in rows below Results provided in the outcome measure data table include odds of a correct response from pre to post test reported in each study arm as odds ratio (95% CI). Statistical analyses include p-values from a mixed effects logistic regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Perceptions of School Culture Scores From Baseline (5 of 8)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Response options: 1 (A little), 2 (some), 3 (A lot) Results provided in the outcome measure data table include difference of mean score from pre to post test (95% CI) in each study arm. Statistical analyses include p-values from a mixed effects linear regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Perceptions of School Culture Scores From Baseline (6 of 8)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: How would you like your school to show that they care about student mental health? Response options: dichotomous for each item listed below Results provided in the outcome measure data table include odds of a correct response from pre to post test reported in each study arm as odds ratio (95% CI). Statistical analyses include p-values from a mixed effects logistic regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Perceptions of School Culture Scores From Baseline (7 of 8)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: On average, how often do your teachers speak to you about your emotions and feelings? Response options: 1 (daily), 2 (weekly), 3 (monthly), 4 (never) Results provided in the outcome measure data table include difference of mean score from pre to post test (95% CI) in each study arm. Statistical analysis includes the p-value from a mixed effects linear regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)
Change in University of Michigan Depression Center Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment Perceptions of School Culture Scores From Baseline (8 of 8)	This will be assessed using the University of Michigan Depression Center (UMDC) Peer-to-Peer Depression Awareness Assessment: baseline assessment (pre-intervention) at the start of the school year and post-assessment after curriculum +/- club delivery (an average of 9 months) Question: Would you like your teachers to speak to you about your emotions and feelings? Response options: 1 (yes), 2 (maybe), 3 (no) Results provided in the outcome measure data table include difference of mean score from pre to post test (95% CI) in each study arm. Statistical analysis includes the p-value from a mixed effects linear regression model.	baseline (pre-intervention) and post-study completion (an average of 9 months)

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center
• Collaborators: The Hollister Confidence Fund

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): September 1, 2021
• Primary Completion (Actual): May 25, 2022
• Study Completion (Actual): May 25, 2022

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 13, 2021
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 23, 2021
• First Posted (Actual): August 24, 2021

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): October 18, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 25, 2024
• Last Verified: July 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: Adolescents; Mental Health
• Other Study ID Numbers: STUDY00017706

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

• Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?: NO

Drug and device information, study documents

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