A Strength-Based Intervention to Improve Job Interview Skills in Young Adults in a Community Setting

The investigators are looking to evaluate how effective a strength-based intervention may be in improving job interview skills in young adults. The investigators are examining the effects of this intervention in young adults who may have difficulty with job interviews, and who may want to improve these skills.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: KF-STRIDE®

Detailed Description

The investigators have developed KF-STRIDE, a promising web-based intervention which focuses on helping autistic transition age youth improve interview skills by 1) learning to identify their unique employable strengths, and 2) practice speaking about those strengths to potential employers in socially appropriate ways. The inability to express one's strengths to a potential employer can negatively affect interview performance and lead to difficulty with job obtainment. Importantly, KF-STRIDE is web-based, so it is highly scalable, and uses well-established principles of positive psychology. The investigators' pilot data evaluating KF-STRIDE in a lab-based setting indicates that after using KF-STRIDE, users experience increased knowledge of their personal strengths and improved job interview skills. However, KF-STRIDE's effectiveness in a real-world setting has not been established. Kessler Foundation (KF) Center for Autism Research will partner with Spectrum Works (or other community partner) (see letter of support) to implement and evaluate KF-STRIDE in a real-world setting. Spectrum Works is a non-profit organization which provides job training and employment opportunities to autistic youth. In the current study, KF-STRIDE will be implemented at Spectrum Works (or other community partner) by Spectrum Work staff members (trained by KF staff).

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 30
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Helen Genova, Ph. D.; Phone Number: 973-324-8390; Email: hgenova@kesslerfoundation.org
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Katarina Reduzzi, MA; Email: kreduzzi@kesslerfoundation.org

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Jersey
    • East Hanover, New Jersey, United States, 07936
      • Recruiting
      • Kessler Foundation
      • Contact: Helen Genova, Ph. D.

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Child; Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

Lives in the United States of America Between the ages of 14-26 Speaks English well and at a 4th grade reading level

Exclusion Criteria:

Had a stroke, Traumatic Brain Injury, or neurological injury or disease in the past(like brain tumor or epilepsy) Has a history of significant psychiatric illness(like schizophrenia or psychosis) Has uncontrolled seizures or other unstable medical complications

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Treatment Group; In this arm, participants would participate in in an intervention program that uses character strengths to improve job maintenance skills in young adults.	Behavioral: KF-STRIDE®; Treatment group will receive 10 web based sessions of a strength-based training tool (once or twice a week). Sessions are approximately 60 minutes long.; Other Names: Kessler Foundation Strength Identification and Expression
No Intervention: Control Group; In this arm, participants are services as usual and will participate in their regular activities.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mock Job Interview	Blinded reviewers using a standardized scoring measure will rate the video recorded mock job interviews	Baseline, Immediate Post-Test between weeks 7 and 8
Employment Status	We will examine whether the person became employed or other changes to their employment status. Yes=1, No=0	Baseline, Immediate Post-Test, and 6 months Post-Test
Time-to-reach Employment	We will examine how long it took for the person to obtain employment. Assessed as weeks since intervention completion.	6 months Post-Test
Strength Knowledge and Strengths Use Scale (SKUS)	Measure to assess knowledge and use of one's strengths and measure changes following strengths-based interventions. Two scores: Strengths Use and Strengths Knowledge. Strengths Use values range from 14-98, with higher score indicating a better outcome. Strengths Knowledge values range from 8-56, with higher score indicating a better outcome.	Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
Youth Interview- Self Efficacy and Anxiety	25 items combined, about confidence and interview comfort in adolescents, with values ranging from 0 to 5 for each item, and higher scores meaning a better outcome.	Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
Job Search Behavior Scale	12 items measuring how often one engages in job search activities- language modified for use in youth, with values ranging from 1-5, with higher scores meaning a better outcome.	Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
Work Readiness Scale	13 items about the perception of one's ability to work, with values ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores meaning a better outcome.	Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8
Global Assessment of Character Strengths (GACS)	24 items measuring one's identification of personal character strengths, with values ranging from 1 to 5, with higher scores meaning a better outcome	Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSES)	Self-report self-esteem questionnaire. Values range from 10-40, with higher score indicating better outcome.	Baseline, Immediate Post-test between weeks 7 and 8

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Kessler Foundation
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Helen Genova, Ph. D., Kessler Foundation

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): July 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 1, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 18, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 18, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): April 24, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): July 24, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: July 22, 2024
• Last Verified: July 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Neurodevelopmental Disorders; Child Development Disorders, Pervasive; Autism Spectrum Disorder
• Other Study ID Numbers: E-1139-21 Community Setting

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