Finding Emotional Empowerment and Lifelong Strength (FEELS)

Co-Producing a Trauma and Substance Use Mental Health Literacy Intervention

This study will build a partnership with a Community Advisory Board to co-produce, and then pilot test, a theory-guided mental health literacy intervention focused on trauma and substance use. Participants will take part in educational group sessions for 12 weeks and complete assessments at baseline and two follow-up time points (mid-intervention and post-intervention). Intervention participants will be randomly invited to post-study focus groups to gather feedback on their experiences in the program.

Study Overview

• Status: Recruiting
• Conditions: Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Substance Use
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Finding Emotional Empowerment and Lifelong Strength

Detailed Description

This study will enhance mental health literacy (i.e., knowledge and beliefs related to mental health, including recognition, prevention, and management of symptoms) among a sample of young Black adults who have experienced lifetime trauma. The culturally tailored intervention will be guided by the Theory of Planned Behavior and social ecological model as guiding frameworks. Intervention components will be designed to promote behavioral, normative, and control beliefs related to mental health care utilization, with resources to target individual, interpersonal, organizational, and community levels of influence. Following development, the intervention will be piloted among young Black adults, utilizing a single-arm pilot design.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 80
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: Alexandria Bauer, PhD; Phone Number: 848-209-1032; Email: alexandria.bauer@rutgers.edu

Study Locations

• United States
  • New Jersey
    • Piscataway, New Jersey, United States, 08854
      • Recruiting
      • Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies
      • Contact: Alexandria G. Bauer; Phone Number: 6192443505; Email: alexandria.bauer@rutgers.edu

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Self-identify as Black or African American
2. Be between the ages of 18 and 35 years old
3. Endorse previous lifetime trauma exposure
4. Participants must speak English
5. Participants are capable of giving informed consent and capable of complying with study procedures.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Other
• Allocation: N/A
• Interventional Model: Single Group Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

1

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: FEELS; Finding Emotional Empowerment and Lifelong Strength	Behavioral: Finding Emotional Empowerment and Lifelong Strength; A group-based, 12-week educational intervention to help promote mental health literacy and related beliefs, especially related to trauma and substance use.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Change in scores on the Multicomponent Mental Health Literacy Measure (MMHLM)	Assesses knowledge and beliefs about mental health disorders, including symptoms, causes, prevention and treatment strategies. Total scores range from 22 to 110, with higher scores indicating greater MHL.	3-months
Change in scores on the Short Attitudes Towards Mental Health Problems Scale (SATMHPS)	Measures personal, family, and community attitudes and stigma related to mental health challenges. Mean scores for subscales range from 0 to 3, with higher scores indicating more negative attitudes.	3-months
Change in scores on the Mental Help Seeking Intention Scale (MHSIS)	Measures intentions to seek help from a mental health professional in the event of a mental health concern. Mean scores range from from 1 to 7, with higher scores indicating stronger intentions.	3-months
Change in scores on the Self-Efficacy in Seeking Mental Health Care (SE-SMHC)	Assesses perceived ability to seek professional mental health care. Total scores range from 9 to 90, while subscale scores range from 5 to 50 (SE-KNOW) and 4 to 40 (SE-COPE).	3-months
Participant engagement as assessed by rates of participant recruitment and proportion of eligible participants who are enrolled in the study		3-months
Participant satisfaction at mid- and post-intervention (quantitative)	Mean scores (ranging from 1 to 5) on ten Likert items assessing length of the program, pace of learning and discussing material, group format, meeting time and location, group facilitator, and program materials (i.e., amount of information given, clarity of the information given, ability to understand information, ability to apply material in real life). One additional item will ask how participants would rate the helpfulness of the FEELS intervention (1 = very unhelpful to 5 = very helpful).	3-months
Participant satisfaction at post-intervention (qualitative)	Three survey questions will ask participants for feedback on the intervention (facilitators for participation, topics to include in the future, and suggestions for improvement). Post-intervention focus groups will also elicit qualitative appraisals (on intervention length, pace, and modality; ease of reading, understanding, and applying the content; and suggestions for improvement) from a smaller group of intervention participants.	3-months
Participant retention and attendance at sessions	Mean number of intervention sessions attended per participant and proportion of participants who complete the full intervention	3-months

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Mental health help-seeking behaviors	Five questions will include looking for a mental health provider nearby, finding out whether insurance would cover a visit to a mental health provider, making an appointment, following through on the appointment, and/or visiting a provider more than once. Items will be scored as 1 = Yes and 0 = No.	3-months
Changes in scores on the Short PTSD Rating Interview (SPRINT)	Mean scores ranging from 0 to 4, with higher scores indicating greater PTSD symptoms.	3-months
Changes in scores on the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST)	Mean frequency of past 3-month substance use, ranging from 0 to 6, with higher scores indicating greater substance use.	3-months

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey
• Collaborators: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): March 10, 2026
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2028
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: July 18, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: January 26, 2026
• First Posted (Actual): January 30, 2026

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 1, 2026
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: March 31, 2026
• Last Verified: March 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: trauma; young adults; substance use; psychoeducation; mental health literacy; Black and African American
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Mental Disorders; Chemically-Induced Disorders; Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders; Substance-Related Disorders; Wounds and Injuries
• Other Study ID Numbers: Pro2023000454; 1K01MH131797-01 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)

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