Clinical Research Directory

Health Surveillance at Constructor University Bremen (CUB) and Among HAW-Hamburg Employees

The aim of Health Surveillance is to analyze and describe the state of health of students at Constructor University, key influencing factors and individual resources by using mixed-method design.

The Human Stress Response in a Simulated ED Setting

Stress is important for health. As emergency departments (EDs) are often stressful places, a better understanding of the human stress response is important for understanding how and why patients respond as they do when they come to the ED. Since the investigators cannot take up space in the ED for research, the investigators will instead recruit 20 methamphetamine-using participants who are not currently in treatment and 10 healthy adult matched participants to a simulated ED room in the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Simulation Center. The investigators will have participants perform a stressor task involving public speaking and a simple arithmetic task. The investigators will see if this experiment can be made to be like being in an actual ED by varying what participants speak about in the task. By doing this, the investigators hope to find out several important things: 1) Is a stressor task feasible and acceptable to participants? 2) What does the stress response -- as measured by cortisol and alpha-amylase -- look like in these participants? 3) Does varying what participants talk about make the experiment seem more like an actual ED? 4) Do participants under stress show even mild symptoms of agitation as measured by clinical scales? If so, how often?

Little ACF (Lilla ABC): Evaluation of a Parental Support Program for Parents of Children Aged 1-2 Years

Society can promote children's mental health at an early stage by creating good conditions with, for example, general parental support programs that are offered to all parents. One program that has been developed is called All Children in Focus (ACF) \[in Swedish: Alla Barn i Centrum (ABC)\] which has been evaluated for parents with children aged 3-12 years. The results showed effects on parenting ability, parenting strategies and on children's well-being. Staff in child health care (CHC), a natural arena for parental support programs reaching almost all families, have requested modifications in the program ACF to involve parents with younger children. The parent groups offered within CHC today are not evaluated in younger children and could be thus replaced by researched parental support based on evidence. The investigators therefore want to study the effects of a modified version of ACF for parents of children 1-2 years (Little ACF) to see if Little ACF can strengthen parenting ability and have effects on children's social and emotional development. Parents within CHC are asked to participate and are randomly assigned to Little ACF or the regular CHC program plus a lecture. Little ACF is offered during four group meetings and potential effects are measured with questionnaires. Measurements are made before randomisation, during and after participation in Little ACF. Children's behavior is followed up at 3 years through questionnaires and CHC documentation. The study can provide important knowledge about how Little ACF can promote children's mental health and strengthen parents. The investigators see it as a strength that Little ACF is based on research and on dialogue with parents and professionals. Little ACF, which is aimed at everyone, can form a basis for identifying families and children who need preventive and treatment measures.

Intervention to Address Disparate Mental Health Consequences of COVID-19 Pandemic on Latinx and African Newcomers

This study tests the effectiveness of a community-based peer advocacy, mutual learning, and social support intervention (Refugee and Immigrant Well-being Project) to reduce several negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic that are disproportionately impacting Latinx and Black populations: psychological distress, financial problems, and daily stressors. In partnership with five community-based organizations that focus on mental health, legal, education, and youth issues with Latinx immigrants and African refugees, we will also be able to examine the effects of people's involvement with community-based organizations and local and state policy changes on their mental health, economic stability, stressors, and social support. This is important not only for Latinx and Black populations and the large number of immigrants and refugees in the United States and worldwide, but also because the intervention model and what we learn from this study have the potential to alleviate mental health disparities experienced by other marginalized populations who face unequal access to social and material resources, disproportionate exposure to trauma and stress, and worse consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic.

School-Based Intervention to Enhance Resilience and Stress Coping in Rural Chinese Adolescents

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of school-based psychological interventions in improving stress resilience and coping skills among adolescents in rural China. The intervention seeks to reduce stress-related mental health symptoms, including depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, measured using validated instruments such as the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7), and the Child PTSD Symptom Scale for DSM-5 (CPSS-5). (See Appendix for full scale descriptions.) Participants will be recruited from rural middle schools and randomly assigned to either an intervention group or a wait-list control group. The intervention consists of four sessions delivered over one week. Assessments will be conducted at baseline, immediately after the intervention, and again at a 3-month and 6-month follow-ups. Researchers will use multilevel modeling (MLM) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine potential mediators and moderators of intervention effects, including emotion recognition, alexithymia, and coping strategies. indings are expected to provide evidence on the effectiveness and mechanisms of an existing, school-based psychological intervention tailored to the needs of adolescents in underserved rural settings.

Caring for Providers to Improve Patient Experience (CPIPE) Trial

The activities described in this proposal are aimed at addressing health care provider stress and unconscious bias to improve quality of maternal health care, particularly related to the person-centered dimensions of care-i.e. care that is respectful and responsive to women's needs, preferences, and values. The investigators focus on health provider stress and unconscious bias because they are key drivers of poor-quality care that are often not addressed in interventions designed to improve quality of maternal health care. The investigators plan to (1) test the effectiveness of an intervention that targets provider stress and bias to improve PCMC; (2) assess the cost-effectiveness of CPIPE; (3) examine the mechanisms of impact of CPIPE on PCMC; and (3) assess impact of the CPIPE intervention on distal outcomes including maternal health seeking behavior and maternal and neonatal health.

Biology, Identity & Opportunity Study

This study will implement an intervention designed to promote ethnic and racial identity development. It is hypothesized that the intervention will have positive effects on ethnic-racial identity development, stress biology (including sleep hours and quality and diurnal cortisol profiles), emotional well-being, executive functioning, and academic outcomes, particularly for minority youth.

Effects of Parent-Adolescent Joint Interventions for Adolescents With Adverse Childhood Experiences

The study aims to examine the effectiveness of joint parent-adolescent intervention in improving the mental health outcomes of participants, specifically by reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7), and the Child PTSD Symptom Scale for DSM-5 (CPSS-5). Adolescents will be recruited from middle schools and randomly assigned to one of three groups: (a) psychoeducation, (b) psychoeducation + emotional skills enhancement, or (c) psychoeducation + emotional skills enhancement + positive childhood experience promotion. The school-based intervention will consist of 4-8 sessions, with assessments conducted at baseline, post-treatment, and a 3-month follow-up. Investigators will conduct multilevel models (MLMs) and structural equation models (SEMs) to investigate the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs), alexithymia, and emotion regulation abilities on mental health outcomes in adolescents.

Effects of Parent-Adolescent Joint I-Interventions for Adolescents with Adverse Childhood Experiences

The study aims to examine the effectiveness of internet-based Parent-Adolescent Joint Interventions in improving the mental health outcomes of participants, specifically by reducing symptoms of depression, anxiety, and PTSD, as measured by the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 scale (GAD-7), and the Child PTSD Symptom Scale for DSM-5 (CPSS-5). Adolescents will be recruited from middle schools and randomly assigned to one of three groups: (a) psychoeducation, (b) psychoeducation + emotional skills enhancement, or (c) psychoeducation + emotional skills enhancement + positive childhood experience promotion. The school-based intervention will consist of 4-8 sessions, with assessments conducted at baseline, post-treatment, and a 3-month follow-up. Investigators will conduct multilevel models (MLMs) and structural equation models (SEMs) to investigate the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), Positive Childhood Experiences (PCEs), alexithymia, and emotion regulation abilities on mental health outcomes in adolescents.

The Effects of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Program for Family or Caregivers of Children With Motor Disabilities

The present study aims to investigate the effect of a mindfulness-based program on perceived stress, severity of anxiety, parents'/caregivers' quality of life and their children, cortisol and IL-6 blood concentrations.