Feasibility of a Social-emotional Learning Curriculum in a STEM-based After-school Program

Summary

The goal of this single arm study is to:

1. primary purpose: to determine the feasibility of a novel social-emotional learning curriculum when implemented in the STEM Academy program at the Visions of Science after school program; 2a. secondary purpose: to determine whether the novel social-emotional learning curriculum has positive effects youth social emotional learning skills; 2b. secondary purpose: to determine whether the novel social-emotional learning curriculum has positive effects on youth resilience and overall functioning.

Participants:

1. Facilitators working with the STEM Academy program at the Visions of Science after school program
2. Youth aged 11-14 who participate in the STEM Academy program at the Visions of Science after school program
3. Parents of youth who participate in the STEM Academy Visions of Science after school program

The main questions this study aims to answer are:

Primary Objectives:

1. Is the novel social-emotional curriculum feasible within the STEM Academy program at the Visions of Science after school program?
2. Is the novel social-emotional curriculum acceptable within the STEM Academy program at the Visions of Science after school program?
3. Is the novel social-emotional curriculum appropriate within the STEM Academy program at the Visions of Science after school program?

Secondary Objectives: Social-emotional learning skills

1\. Have youth social-emotional learning skills improved as a result of participating in the novel social-emotional learning curriculum?

Secondary Objectives: Resilience and overall functioning

1\. Have youth resilience abilities and overall functioning improved as a result of participating in the novel social-emotional learning program?

Comparator: None

Measures:

Primary Objective: Feasibility

After school program staff participants will be asked to complete:

* 3 feasibility measures (feasibility, acceptability, appropriateness of intervention) after each social-emotional module they complete teaching.
* weekly fidelity checklists to assess feasibility.

Youth participants will be asked to complete:

\- the intervention appropriateness measure during the post-curriculum data collection time point.

Secondary Objective: Social-emotional learning skills

After school program staff participants will be asked to complete the following measure pre- and post-curriculum implementation:

\- social-emotional learning skills measure for each youth aged 11-14 years in their class.

Youth participants will be asked to complete the following measure pre- and post-curriculum implementation:

\- social-emotional learning skills measure Parents participants whose youth are in the intervention arm will be asked to participate in an interview.

Secondary objective: Resilience and overall functioning

After school program staff participants will be asked to complete the follow measures pre- and post-curriculum implementation:

\- overall functioning measure for each youth aged 11-14 years in their class.

Youth participants will be asked to complete:

\- resilience measure

Conditions

• Feasibility Study
• Social-emotional Learning Curriculum

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

EMPOWER Social-emotional learning curriculum

EMPOWER is a 16-week social-emotional learning curriculum that is integrated into the after-school program context. The STEM Academy program will implement a shortened version of the social-emotional learning curriculum to meet their timelines.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

  lead OTHER

Study Design

Allocation

NA

Purpose

OTHER

Masking

NONE

Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Eligibility

Min Age

11 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-01-21

Primary Completion

2025-05-30

Completion

2025-05-30

Countries

• Canada

Study Locations