Evaluation of Link for Equity (Students of Color Population)

NCT04026490 | Completed

• 2 other identifiers: ExemptLinkEquityStudent1R01MD013801-01
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 518
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The investigators propose to develop and evaluate Link for Equity, a trauma-informed system of care. Link, a system of support for ACE-affected children, is composed of universal school Trauma-Informed Care. Preventing Racism through Awareness and Action (PRAA) is a perspective-taking racism/discrimination prevention intervention for school staff that increases awareness of racism and how it impacts students and promotes empathy for students of color. Link for Equity will be translated to be culturally responsive for 12 secondary public schools in metropolitan and rural Minnesota with substantial racial/ethnic minority students and racial/ethnic disparities in school discipline and violence. Using a nested, rigorous, and ethically acceptable randomized waitlist control design, the investigators will implement and evaluate Link for Equity sequentially for two years in each school. The overall goal is to evaluate if Link for Equity can reduce school violence disparities.

Conditions

Behavior

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (6)

• Change in School-based Racial and Ethnic Microaggressions Scale (SbREMS) Score

  This is a 14-item scale that measures microaggressions that communicate perceptions of academic inferiority, expectations of aggression, and stereotypical misrepresentations. Respondents are instructed to indicate the number of times that a microaggression occurred in the past month from 1 (never) to 3 (regularly). Sub-scales include Academic Inferiority Microaggressions, Expectations of Aggression Microaggressions, and Stereotypical Misrepresentations Microaggressions. Items are averaged to obtain total and sub-scale scores. Higher scores indicate greater perceived frequency of racial microaggressions. Change in SbREMS score from baseline to two years post will be evaluated.

  baseline and 2 years

• Change in Bullying incidents

  Bullying is defined in Minnesota's anti-bullying law as recurrent aggression between peers leading to a power imbalance. Bullying perpetration and victimization will be evaluated in students enrolled in this study through semiannual surveys. Bullying perpetration and victimization incidents will also be examined using office referral and disciplinary action data from school records. Self-reported bullying is collected in the school-wide population through the Minnesota Student Survey, and will also be examined. From the secondary school measures, we will use counts per students enrolled. From the MSS data, we will report the change in the percentage of students who report an incident (e.g., percent bullied).

  baseline and 2 years

• Change in Physical assault

  Perpetration and victimization of physical assault, defined as physical harm against or by another student, will be evaluated using office referral and disciplinary action data from school records. Self-reported bullying is collected in the school-wide population through the Minnesota Student Survey, and will also be examined. From the secondary school measures, we will use counts per students enrolled. From the MSS data, we will report the change in the percentage of students who report an incident (e.g., percent of physical assaults).

  baseline and 2 years

• Change in Weapons carrying

  Minnesota law defines a dangerous weapon as any firearm, whether loaded or unloaded, or any device designed as a weapon or through its use is capable of threatening or producing death or great bodily harm. Weapons carrying will be evaluated using office referral and disciplinary action data from school records. From the secondary school measures, we will use counts per students enrolled. From the MSS data, we will report the change in the percentage of students who report an incident.

  baseline and 2 years

• Change in Fighting

  Incidents of fighting will be will be evaluated using office referral and disciplinary action data from school records. From the secondary school measures, we will use counts per students enrolled. From the MSS data, we will report the change in the percentage of students who report an incident.

  baseline and 2 years

• Change in Subjective Disciplinary Practices

  Subjective disciplinary practices are referrals and actions that are issued based on a subjective decision of teachers, including verbal abuse, defiance, disrespect, and dress code violations. Subjective disciplinary practices will be evaluated using office referral and disciplinary action data from school records. From the secondary school measures, we will use counts per students enrolled. From the MSS data, we will report the change in the percentage of students who report an incident.

  baseline and 2 years

Study Arms (2)

Immediate intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

The student will have a conversation with an Interventionist.

Behavioral: Immediate Intervention

Waitlist intervention

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

These students will be approached for intervention for the months following the implementation of the immediate intervention group using the same procedures.

Behavioral: Waitlist Intervention

Interventions

Immediate Intervention BEHAVIORAL

The Interventionist will use motivational interviewing skills, assess ethnic and racial microaggressions, and provide support, screen for posttraumatic stress, and, if appropriate, link student to advanced care. The student may meet with the Interventionist several times during the remainder of the school year. These meetings will be approximately 10-30 minutes in length and occur during the school day in a private location determined by the Interventionist. The student may be referred to additional resources as a result of the meetings. The meetings will be documented by the Interventionist using a case management system (in RedCap).

Immediate intervention

Waitlist Intervention BEHAVIORAL

In order to compare outcomes contemporaneously, students from waitlisted schools will be asked to complete baseline and follow-up surveys, which will be collected at approximately the same time as in the immediate intervention schools. The data will be captured for analysis at the end of the study. Students will complete intervention following the waitlist period.

Waitlist intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 9 Years - 19 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64)

You may qualify if:

• The student study population is composed of students of color enrolled at participating schools

You may not qualify if:

• Children who do not identify as full/part Black/African American, Latino/Hispanic, or American Indian/Native

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Minnesota: lead
• National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

University of Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55455, United States

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Ramirez MR, Ryan A, Harding AB, Renfro T, Church TR, Rosebush C, Trotter AG, Xiong BN, Gonzalez J, Woods-Jaeger B. Link for Equity, a community-engaged waitlist randomized controlled trial of a culturally responsive trauma-informed care program for BIPOC students: Design features and characteristics of baseline sample. Contemp Clin Trials. 2023 Mar;126:107090. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2023.107090. Epub 2023 Jan 18.

  PMID: 36681238 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Behavior

Study Officials

• Marizen Ramirez, PhD, MPH

  University of Minnesota

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• Andrew Ryan, MS

  University of Minnesota

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: OTHER
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: July 18, 2019
• First Posted: July 19, 2019
• Study Start: August 1, 2019
• Primary Completion: September 11, 2025
• Study Completion: September 11, 2025
• Last Updated: September 19, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)