Strengthening Health and Insight in New Educators (SHINE)

Healthy Minds for Pre-Service Teachers

Teachers are at notable risk for depression and anxiety. The present study tests an app-based mindfulness intervention for teachers in their final year of training with the goal of preventing the deterioration of their mental health during the transition into the classroom. The project will strengthen the research environment at the University of Alabama and will involve undergraduate research assistants in each step of the research process.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Depressive Symptoms; Anxiety Symptoms
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Healthy Minds Program

Detailed Description

Mental health concerns in teachers have escalated since the onset of the pandemic, and the deterioration of mental health can begin as early as the teacher training period. Accessible and scalable programs that prepare teachers for the stress of the profession are urgently needed to prevent the deterioration of mental health and its attendant consequences. The goal of this longitudinal project is to test the feasibility and acceptability, utility, and candidate mechanisms of an accessible, mobile health, mindfulness-based intervention, the Healthy Minds Program (HMP), to equip teachers in training ("pre-service teachers"; i.e., university students majoring in education) with skills necessary to maintain their mental health as they transition into the classroom. The project addresses three specific aims. Aim 1: a) Assess the feasibility and acceptability of the HMP for pre-service teachers and b) identify barriers and facilitators to program acceptability. Aim 2: Determine the utility of the HMP for preventing depression and anxiety (main outcomes) and turnover intentions (secondary outcome). Aim 3: Examine HMP effects on candidate mechanisms, and the effect of mechanisms on outcomes. The results of this project will provide critical insight into the potential for the HMP to scale up for widespread use in pre-service teacher training programs. Importantly, the project will provide a unique opportunity for undergraduate research at the University of Alabama, and will strengthen the research environment by involving undergraduate research assistants in each step of the research process.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 140
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Summer S Braun, Ph.D.; Phone Number: 2053486159; Email: ssbraun@ua.edu
• Study Contact Backup: Name: Alison L Hooper, Ph.D.; Phone Number: 205-348-0303; Email: alhooper2@ua.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • Alabama
    • Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States, 35487
      • Recruiting
      • University of Alabama
      • Contact: Summer Braun; Phone Number: 2053486159; Email: ssbraun@ua.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Students in Block 3 will be invited to participate in the study.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Students who are not in Block 3 will be excluded. Participants experiencing suicidal ideations at baseline and deemed via the clinical risk assessment procedure to be at moderate or high risk of suicide will be excluded from the study after baseline, and prior to randomization.

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
No Intervention: Business as Usual; Participants in this arm will continue with daily life as usual.
Experimental: Healthy Minds Program; Participants in this arm engage with the Healthy Minds Program app.	Behavioral: Healthy Minds Program; Participants in this arm engage with the Healthy Minds Program app/

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Depression - Short Form 8b	Participants will self-report on depression. Each of the 8 items is rated on 1 (1 = Never) to 5 (5 = Always) scale. Responses will be summed to create the raw scale score. Higher values indicate greater symptoms of depression (i.e., a worse outcome).	Participants will report on depression at baseline, post-intervention (3 months after baseline), 3-month follow-up , and 12-month follow-up.
Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Anxiety - Short Form 7a	Participants will self-report on anxiety. Each of the 7 items is rated on 1 (1 = Never) to 5 (5 = Always) scale. Responses will be summed to create the raw scale score. Higher values indicate greater symptoms of anxiety (i.e., a worse outcome).	Participants will report on anxiety at baseline, post-intervention (3 months after baseline), 3-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Turnover Intentions	Participants will self-report on their intentions to leave their job.	Participants will report turnover intentions at 3-month follow-up, and 12-month follow-up.

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Teaching Quality: edTPA	Performance-based assessment of teaching quality required for teacher certification. Higher scores indicate greater teaching quality.	edTPA scores will be collected immediately after the intervention.
Teaching Quality: Candidate Preservice Assessment of Student Teaching (CPAST)	Summative assessment of pre-service teachers' teaching quality during the semester-long student teaching experience. Higher scores indicate greater teaching quality.	CPAST scores will be collected immediately after the intervention.

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): January 17, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2027

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: December 12, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 19, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): March 25, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 2, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 31, 2025
• Last Verified: March 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: mental health; mindfulness-based intervention; app; Healthy Minds Program; pre-service teachers
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Behavioral Symptoms; Depression
• Other Study ID Numbers: 24-01-7242; R15MH134225 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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