Race-based Biological Stress, Ethnic-Racial Identity, and Educational Outcomes: New Approaches to Studying Academic Achievement Gaps
试验速览
- 阶段
- 不适用
- 状态
- 进行中（未招募）
- 入组人数
- 400
- 试验地点
- 6
- 主要终点
- Ethnic and Racial Identity (ERI) development: Exploration
研究概览
简要总结
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.
详细描述
On average, students from disadvantaged racial-ethnic minority groups (such as Blacks and Hispanics) show lower academic performance and attainment on a variety of measures, including grades, test scores and graduation rates. Racial-ethnic minority students are also exposed to higher levels of stress, especially "race-based stress," including higher levels of discrimination and stereotype threat. Past research has shown that race-based stress is related to alterations in stress biology, including altered stress hormone levels and less and lower quality sleep. Altered stress hormones and shorter and lower quality sleep in turn have important implications for multiple aspects of cognitive functioning, including executive functioning, that have known impacts on emotional well-being and academic performance.
It is therefore hypothesized that disparities in race-based stress and stress biology may help to account for racial-ethnic disparities in academic performance. One (correlational, non-causal) purpose of this study, therefore, is to measure and test associations among race-based social stress (RBSS, such as perceived racial discrimination), stress biology (cortisol daily rhythms and sleep hours and quality) and academic outcomes in 300 high school students in a racially diverse, mid-sized, suburban high school.
Additional research has shown that the presence of a strong ethnic-racial identity is associated with better-regulated stress biology and higher academic attainment. A second major purpose of this study, and the primary purpose of this RCT, is to test, through a random-assignment intervention, whether promoting positive ethnic and racial identity development serves to advance ethnic and racial identity development, improve stress biology, and improve emotional well-being, cognition (executive functioning), and academic outcomes. Positive effects on these outcomes are expected for those in the experimental (ethnic and racial identity promotion) group, compared to the comparison group. Effects are expected to be particularly strong for those in the experimental condition that are from black and hispanic ethnic and racial minority groups.
The present study will assess race-based social stress (received racial discrimination and stereotype threat susceptibility), ethnic and racial identity, cortisol, sleep, cognition (executive functioning), emotional and academic adjustment, and academic outcomes in a cohort of 300 high school freshman both before and after an 8-week randomized control trial of the Identity Project Intervention (Umaña-Taylor & Douglass, 2017; Umaña-Taylor, Douglass, Updegraff & Marsiglia, 2017). Participants will be recruited in 2 or (if necessary) 3 annual waves, with baseline data collection for the study starting on December 16, 2017. Initial tests of the RCT effects will occur immediately after the intervention and in the year subsequent to the intervention. Questionnaire and administrative outcomes will continue to be measured through the senior year of high school. Additional funding will be sought to measure physical health outcomes, and to follow participants into their college and/or work years. Study plans and hypotheses for these follow-on studies will be registered separately.
研究设计
- 研究类型
- Interventional
- 分配方式
- Randomized
- 干预模型
- Parallel
- 主要目的
- Basic Science
- 盲法
- Single (Outcomes Assessor)
盲法说明
Post-doctoral scholar conducting the statistical data analyses will be provided with de-identified data and will not be informed of which condition is which. Rather, they will be provided with a neutral and randomly assigned set of names identifying each condition: Condition 1 and Condition 2.
入排标准
- 年龄范围
- 13 Years 至 18 Years（Child, Adult）
- 性别
- All
- 接受健康志愿者
- 是
入选标准
- •Three hundred students will be recruited through announcements and presentations in required, non-tracked 9th grade classes at 3 mid-sized, diverse, suburban high schools, through flyers posted around the school, and through e-mails sent and presentations made to students and parent groups.
排除标准
- •The presence of an endocrine disorder or use of corticosteroid based medications.
- •Youth who are unable to read in English will be excluded because materials will solely be available in English.
- •The study will not include students who do not provide parental consent.
- •The study will not include students who do not provide their own assent
- •The study will not include pregnant students in this study.
研究组 & 干预措施
Ethnic and Racial Identity Promotion
Students will participate in 8, 1 hour and 15 minute classroom based intervention sessions at their local high school, during which a facilitator will lead them through a series of lectures, group activities, and individual homework activities designed to promote a positive ethnic and racial identity (positive feelings about ones' ethnic and racial heritage and ethnic and racial group membership).
干预措施: Ethnic and Racial Identity Promotion (Behavioral)
Academic Skills Promotion
Students in this active comparison group will participate in an 8-week, 1 hour and 15 minute classroom based intervention, during which a facilitator will lead them through a series of lectures, group activities, and individual homework activities designed to provide information regarding college and career planning, and promote college and career planning as well as study skills and strategies. This condition receives the same amount of facilitator time and attention as the Experimental condition.
干预措施: Academic Skills Promotion (Behavioral)
结局指标
主要结局
Ethnic and Racial Identity (ERI) development: Exploration
时间窗: Between 9 and 12 months following the 8-week intervention.
The investigators will measure the ERI Exploration subscale in the Ethnic Identity Scale (Douglass \& Umaña-Taylor, 2015). The measure uses a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 4 (describes me very well). The mean score is computed for the Exploration subscale. Therefore the minimum score is 1, and maximum is 4. Negatively worded items are reverse scored, so that higher scores indicate higher levels of ethnic and racial identity exploration.
Ethnic and Racial Identity (ERI) development: Resolution
时间窗: Between 9 and 12 months following the 8-week intervention.
The investigators will measure the ERI Resolution subscale in the Ethnic Identity Scale (Douglass \& Umaña-Taylor, 2015). The measure uses a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 4 (describes me very well). The mean score is computed for the Resolution subscale. Therefore the minimum score is 1, and maximum is 4. Negatively worded items are reverse scored, so that higher scores indicate higher levels of ethnic and racial identity resolution.
Ethnic and Racial Identity (ERI) development: Centrality
时间窗: Between 9 and 12 months following the 8-week intervention.
The investigators will measure the centrality with a modified version of the Centrality subscale from the Multidimensional Inventory of Black Identity (MIBI; Sellers, Rowley, Chavous, Shelton, \& Smith, 1997). The subscale uses a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). The mean score is computed for the total score. Therefore the minimum score is 1, and maximum is 7. Negatively worded items are reverse scored, so that higher scores indicate a greater extent to which a person normatively defines her or himself with regard to race. It is a measure of whether race is a core part of an individual's self-concept.
Ethnic and Racial Identity (ERI) development: Total Score
时间窗: Between 9 and 12 months following the 8-week intervention.
The investigators will measure an ethnic and racial identity total score from the Ethnic Identity Scale (Douglass \& Umaña-Taylor, 2015). The measure uses a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 4 (describes me very well). The mean score is computed for the total score. Therefore the minimum score is 1, and maximum is 4. Negatively worded items are reverse scored, so that higher scores indicate higher levels ethnic and racial identity development.
Ethnic and Racial Identity (ERI) development: Pride/Affirmation
时间窗: Between 9 and 12 months following the 8-week intervention.
The investigators will measure the ERI Pride/Affirmation subscale in the Ethnic Identity Scale (Douglass \& Umaña-Taylor, 2015). The measure uses a Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (does not describe me at all) to 4 (describes me very well). The mean score is computed for the Pride/Affirmation subscale. Therefore the minimum score is 1, and maximum is 4. Negatively worded items are reverse scored, so that higher scores indicate higher levels of ethnic and racial identity pride/affirmation.
次要结局
- Student Emotional Well-being: Adolescent internalizing total problems(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Academic engagement: behavioral engagement(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Metacognition Index(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Initiate scale(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Student Emotional Well-being: Symptoms of Depression- Interpersonal Problems(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Emotional Control scale(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Student Emotional Well-being: Symptoms of Depression- Negative Affect(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Student Emotional Well-being: Symptoms of Depression- Positive Affect(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Student Emotional Well-being: Adolescent internalizing and externalizing total problems(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Academic achievement and attainment: Standardized achievement tests(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Student Emotional Well-being: Student Self-Esteem(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Student Emotional Well-being: Symptoms of Depression total score(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Student Emotional Well-being: Symptoms of Depression- Somatic Symptoms(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Student Emotional Well-being: Adolescent externalizing total problems(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Overall academic engagement(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- School belonging(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Academic motivation(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Academic Efficacy(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Academic achievement and attainment: Student grades(Assessed at the end of the academic year following completion of the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Working Memory scale(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Behavioral Regulation Index(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Inhibit scale(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Shift scale(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Global Executive Composite(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Plan/Organize scale(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Organization of Materials scale(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Self-Reported Executive functioning- Monitor scale(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Executive functioning- Cognitive Flexibility and Set Switching TMT-B(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Executive functioning- TMT-B total error count(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Executive functioning- TMT-B set-shifting error count(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Executive functioning- TMT-B sequencing error count(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Executive functioning- Cognitive Flexibility and Set Switching without basic processing speed(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Executive functioning- Basic processing speed(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Episodic Memory, NIH Toolbox Picture Sequence Memory Test(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Working Memory, NIH Toolbox List Sorting Working Memory Test(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Actigraphy Hours of Sleep(Measured within 1 year after completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Executive functioning, NIH Toolbox Dimensional Change Card Sort Test(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Attention, NIH Toolbox Flanker Inhibitory Control and Attention Test.(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Processing Speed, NIH Toolbox Pattern Comparison Processing Speed Test(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cognition: Fluid Intelligence(Measured within 1 year of completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Actigraphy Sleep Efficiency(Measured within 1 year after completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cortisol: Diurnal Cortisol Slope(Measured within 1 year after completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cortisol: Cortisol awakening response.(Measured within 1 year after completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Actigraphy Sleep Latency(Measured within 1 year after completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
- Cortisol: Average cortisol level.(Measured within 1 year after completing the 8 week intervention and control curricula.)
研究者
Emma Adam
Edwina S. Tarry Professor and Associate Vice President for Research
Northwestern University