Testing a Measurement Feedback App to Improve Data Quality, Supervision & Outcomes in Behavioral Health

Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to test whether a smartphone-based data collection and feedback application ("Footsteps") improves the quality of behavioral data collected by one-to-one aides and leads to better youth mental health outcomes in school-aged youth (ages 4-17) who receive one-to-one support in schools.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does the Footsteps app improve aides' data collection quality (i.e., consistency, timeliness, and completeness)?
2. Does Footsteps use lead to improved youth behavioral health outcomes (e.g., SDQ, YTP scores)?
3. Does Footsteps improve communication and supervision processes between aides and clinical supervisors?

Researchers will compare aides using Footsteps to those using a "data collection only" control app to see if Footsteps leads to higher quality data collection, enhanced supervisory communication, and better youth outcomes.

Participants will:

* Use either Footsteps or a control app to record de-identified data on one client's behaviors and skills over 12 weeks
* Complete biweekly online surveys about data collection experiences, youth progress, and aide-supervisor communication
* Participate in a virtual intake and post-trial meeting
* (For a subset) Participate in a 30-45 minute qualitative interview about their experience using the app

Conditions

• Autism
• Challenging Behavior
• ADHD
• Oppositional Defiant Disorder

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Behavioral economics strategies

Behavioral economics features designed to increase motivation to collect data and ease of data collection on the electronic platform.

DEVICE

Electronic platform

Electronic platform to collect data

Sponsors & Collaborators

• National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)

  collaborator NIH

• University of Pennsylvania

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Heather J Nuske, PhD · University of Pennsylvania

• David Mandell, Sc.D. · University of Pennsylvania

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2026-04-08

Primary Completion

2028-06-30

Completion

2028-06-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations