Journey of Transformation Curriculum for Native American Youth (JOT)

April 15, 2026 updated by: Teresa Evans-Campbell, University of Washington

Discovering Our Story, to Develop the Journey of Transformation

The investigators will conduct a waitlist control trial to test the efficacy of the Journey of Transformation-Native Youth Health Leadership Program (JOT) in terms of delaying or reducing tobacco and other substance use and improving sexual health.

Study Overview

Status

Active, not recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

This study assesses a new curriculum that will be available to students in the tenth grade. The lessons will include traditional storytelling and other Native American cultural arts activities (i.e., drum making, film making, field trips), as well as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) activities. This study also assesses how well the curriculum explains leadership skills, Native American cultural arts, the natural environment, and promotes healthy decision-making around health and relationships.

Participants are assigned to a health class that starts the curriculum in the fall or to a health class that will start the curriculum in the winter. Participants will:

Week 1. Complete a 15-20- minute online survey about healthy relationships, drug use, youth leadership skills, and connecting with Native communities.

Weeks 1 - 3. Meet with a study educator up to two times to set goals around health, healthy relationships and how to reduce or avoid alcohol, tobacco, or other drug use.

Weeks 1 - 12 (months 1-3). As part of the class, attend up to ten health sessions on healthy behaviors and health promotion. Learn new skills around youth leadership, storytelling, and traditional health practices. The sessions will highlight connection to tribal traditions.

Month 3. Complete an online check-in survey via a link sent to participants' email address.

Month 6. Complete an online check-in survey via a link sent to participants' email address.

Month 12. Complete an online check-in survey via a link sent to participants' email address.

Optional after school activities:

Weeks 9 - 16 (months 3-4). Attend a once-a-month activity to help build leadership skills. Activities are between 1-2 hours after school and include drum making, film making, creating a storytelling vest that incorporates their own cultural symbols, and up to two outdoor field trips. The field trips are to places of cultural significance near the school and involve a 30-45 minute hike.

Week 16 (month 4). Meet with the study educator for a session to revise goals for health and community leadership.

Weeks 9 - 24 (months 3-6). Attend a 2-hour digital storytelling training and three monthly planning sessions to prepare for an optional digital storytelling leadership night. Stories can be about what participants have learned about health promotion, traditional health practices, and to celebrate their health leadership journey.

Week 25 (month 6). Attend the leadership night and present digital stories if participants would like. Help prepare a traditional feast and giveaway that will honor community culture and values.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

182

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Washington
      • Seattle, Washington, United States, 98105
        • University of Washington

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

13 years to 16 years (Child)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Attends an off-reservation boarding school in the tenth grade at time of enrollment

Exclusion Criteria

  • None

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: Non-Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Triple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Immediate group
Study participants in the immediate group will be randomly assigned to start the intervention immediately at the beginning of the fall trimester.
Behavioral: Journey of Transformation-Native Youth Health Leadership Program curriculum
Curriculum activities will include traditional storytelling and other Native American cultural arts activities (i.e., drum making, film making), as well as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) activities and field trips. Curriculum content explains leadership skills and promotes healthy decision-making around substance use and sexual health.
Experimental: Waitlist group
Study participants in the waitlist group will be randomly assigned to start the intervention at the beginning of the winter trimester.
Behavioral: Journey of Transformation-Native Youth Health Leadership Program curriculum
Curriculum activities will include traditional storytelling and other Native American cultural arts activities (i.e., drum making, film making), as well as Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) activities and field trips. Curriculum content explains leadership skills and promotes healthy decision-making around substance use and sexual health.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in patterns of 30 day substance use assessed by self-report
Time Frame: Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)
Patterns of substance use (Monitoring the Future [MTF] 30-day self-report assessed on an ordinal scale [0 occasions, 1-2 occasions, 3-5 occasions, 6-9 occasions, 10-19 occasions, 20-39 occasions, 40 or more occasions]). Substances include tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, stimulants, inhalants, opioids, and other drugs.
Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)
Change in sexual behavior assessed by self-report
Time Frame: Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)
Primary sexual behaviors assessed by items from the Adolescent Sexual Activity Index
Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in intentions to use alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana in the next year (assessed by Monitoring the Future [MTF])
Time Frame: Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)
Assess intention to use alcohol, cigarettes, and marijuana in the next year (3 items) on a 5-point scale (I have already tried [substance], I definitely will, I probably will, I probably will not, I definitely will not). Scores are summed and standardized on a scale of 0 to 100 percent.
Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)
Change in the Specific Event Drug and Alcohol Refusal Self-Efficacy (SEDARE) Measure
Time Frame: Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)
The Specific Event Drug and Alcohol Refusal Self-Efficacy (SEDARE) measure captures the perceived likelihood that youth will use drugs and alcohol in specific situations on a 3-point scale (Yes, No, Unsure). Higher scores reflect higher perceived ability to refuse alcohol or drugs.
Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)
Change in the Sexual Health and Reproductive Empowerment for Young Adults Scale (self-efficacy) (Upadhyay et al., 2020)
Time Frame: Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)
23 items will be used to assess young people's empowerment regarding sexual and reproductive health on a 5-point Likert scale (Not at all true to Extremely true).
Baseline to 3-month (post-intervention) follow-up; Baseline to 6-month follow-up; Baseline to 12-month follow-up (immediate group only)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Washington

Collaborators

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Teresa A Evans-Campbell, MSW, PhD, University of Washington

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

December 11, 2023

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 28, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

February 28, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 7, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 7, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

February 16, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

April 20, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 15, 2026

Last Verified

April 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00012676-02
  • 1R01DA050521-01A1 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

Only de-identified IPD will be available after institutional IRB and agency approval.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

De-identified data will be available for 12 months after publication of the main findings manuscript. Other resources, such as training materials and the curriculum, will be available after demonstration of their efficacy.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

Contact PI for access.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP
  • ANALYTIC_CODE
  • CSR

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

product manufactured in and exported from the U.S.

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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