Project Activities
The research team will iteratively develop MST, using feedback from key stakeholders (school personnel, high school youth with disabilities, and their parents/caregivers); assess the intervention for acceptability and feasibility; and pilot test it for promise in an underpowered clustered randomized controlled trial (RCT).
Structured Abstract
Setting
The study will take place in high school special education classrooms of a midsize urban and suburban area in Oregon.
Sample
The series of focus groups will include approximately 6-10 high school students with disabilities, school personnel, and parents/caregivers. Approximately 20 students will participate in the acceptability and feasibility testing and approximately 100 students will participate in the RCT.
Intervention
MST is an intervention for high school youth that uses a self-determination framework and targets self-regulation and self-awareness as the primary mechanisms of influence. MST includes four major components: attention, awareness, acceptance, and (value-guided) action. Each component will be covered over a period of 3 weeks, for a total intervention duration of 12 weeks. The intervention will include daily, brief (10-minute), teacher-led, mindfulness-based practice sessions that are designed to be integrated at the beginning of the class period. The intervention also includes a 1-day, hands-on teacher professional development (PD) workshop with a certified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction instructor and weekly, ongoing consultation with the instructor throughout the intervention delivery period.
Research design and methods
In phase 1, the research team will iteratively develop MST based on detailed feedback from key stakeholders and end users of the intervention through a series of focus groups. In phase 2, the team will evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of MST and further refine it in preparation for the pilot study. In phase 3, the research team will test the promise of MST using an underpowered RCT. Participating classrooms will be randomly assigned within schools to either the intervention or control condition. Student survey data will be collected during baseline, post-intervention, and 3 months following the intervention. The researchers will also track costs associated with implementing MST to conduct a cost analysis.
Control condition
School staff and students within the control condition will receive the school's business-as-usual instruction, supports, and PD.
Key measures
Teacher acceptability of MST will be measured using an adapted version of the Treatment Acceptability Rating Form–Revised. Student acceptability will be assessed using the Children's Usability Rating Profile. Teacher perceptions of feasibility will be measured using an adapted version of the organizational capacity subscale of the Program Sustainability Assessment Tool. During the RCT, implementation fidelity will be measured via a project-developed checklist. The primary outcome will be measured with the Self-Determination Inventory. Self-regulation will be measured with the Attention Network Task (attention control), the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (emotional regulation), the impulsivity subscale of the Eysenck Personality Inventory (behavioral regulation), and the self-control subscale of the Social Skills Rating System (self-control). Self-awareness will be measured with the Motivational Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (intrinsic goal orientation), the Avoidance and Fusion Questionnaire for Youth (openness/experiential non-avoidance), and the Self-Reflection and Insight Scale (self-reflection). Mindfulness will be measured with the Mindfulness Attention Awareness Scale–Adolescent. School demographic data will be accessed from extant federal databases and administrative records shared by the schools.
Data analytic strategy
In phase 1, the researchers will code and analyze qualitative focus group data to identify common themes. Data from the acceptability and feasibility study will be analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical techniques and a pre-post analysis. Data from the RCT will be analyzed using multilevel structural equation modeling, with time nested within students and students nested within classrooms.
Cost analysis strategy
The cost analysis will employ a societal and local education agency perspective and use the ingredients method to determine the costs associated with implementing MST in special education transition classrooms.
Products and publications
Products: The products from this study will include the fully developed MST intervention (including intervention manuals, teacher training materials, video recordings, student activities, and fidelity of implementation measures). The research team will also produce peer-reviewed publications and presentations documenting findings, as well as additional dissemination products (such as policy briefs) for practitioners and policymakers.
ERIC Citations: Find available citations in ERIC for this award here.
Questions about this project?
To answer additional questions about this project or provide feedback, please contact the program officer.