Strengthening Community Mental Health

NCT06093737 | Unknown

• 1 other identifier: IRBAM-21-139105
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 300
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to examine the impact of the Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy (COPE) intervention in adults in communities having recently experienced or at risk of experiencing disaster. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• How does the COPE intervention affect individual mental health?
• How does the COPE intervention affect protective factors like coping and social support?
• How does the COPE intervention affect community resilience?
• How does delivery of the COPE intervention in partnership with a broad-based organization affect participant recruitment and retention, as well as outcomes? Participants will participate in the three session COPE intervention. Researchers will compare individuals who participate in the COPE intervention to individuals who participate in house meetings to see if the COPE intervention improves mental health, coping, social support and community resilience. Researchers will also examine factors that affect implementation and intervention delivery.

Conditions

Mental Health; Emotional Wellbeing; Anxiety; Depression; Stress; Coping; Perceived Stress; Perceived Social Support

Keywords

mental health; community-based participatory research; emotional wellbeing; perceived stress

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (7)

• Change in perceived stress from baseline

  Measured using Perceived Stress Scale, a 10-item scale that measures the degree to which a person appraises situations in their life as stressful.

  T1 (pre-intervention), T2 (1 month post-intervention), T3 (2 months post-intervention), T4 (3 months post-intervention)

• Change in depression symptoms from baseline

  Measured using The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS), a set of three self-report scales designed to measure depression, anxiety and stress.

  T1 (pre-intervention), T2 (1 month post-intervention), T3 (2 months post-intervention), T4 (3 months post-intervention)

• Change in anxiety symptoms from baseline

  Measured using The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS), a set of three self-report scales designed to measure depression, anxiety and stress.

  T1 (pre-intervention), T2 (1 month post-intervention), T3 (2 months post-intervention), T4 (3 months post-intervention)

• Change in stress symptoms from baseline

  Measured using The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS), a set of three self-report scales designed to measure depression, anxiety and stress.

  T1 (pre-intervention), T2 (1 month post-intervention), T3 (2 months post-intervention), T4 (3 months post-intervention)

• Change in perceived social support from baseline

  Measured using the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS) is a 12 item scale, assessing perceived social support and connection.

  T1 (pre-intervention), T2 (1 month post-intervention), T3 (2 months post-intervention), T4 (3 months post-intervention)

• Change in coping from baseline

  Measured using the Coping Self-Efficacy Scale (CSES) short form, a 12-item measure of confidence in managing stressors.

  T1 (pre-intervention), T2 (1 month post-intervention), T3 (2 months post-intervention), T4 (3 months post-intervention)

• Change in community resilience from baseline

  Measured using the Communities Advancing Resilience Toolkit (CART), a 21-item measure of community resilience items across 4 interrelated domains that both reflect and contribute to community resilience: (1) Connection and Caring; (2) Resources; (3) Transformative Potential; and (4) Disaster Management.

  T1 (pre-intervention), T2 (1 month post-intervention), T3 (2 months post-intervention), T4 (3 months post-intervention)

Secondary Outcomes (3)

• Intervention acceptibility

  After delivery of 3rd session

• Intervention appropriateness

  After delivery of 3rd session

• Intervention feasibility

  After delivery of 3rd session

Other Outcomes (3)

• Interviews

  From date of first intervention delivery until 3 months post-date of delivery of final intervention session

• Focus groups

  From date of first intervention delivery until 3 months post-date of delivery of final intervention session

• Intervention fidelity

  At each intervention session.

Study Arms (2)

COPE Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Is a three session brief group psychoeducational intervention. Session 1 is 4 hours, Session 2 and 3 are 1.5 hours. It is delivered in groups of 8-15 people with sessions spaced 1 month apart.

Behavioral: COPE: Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy

House Meeting Control

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Is a 1.5 hour group meeting delivered in groups of 8-15 people spaced 1 month apart.

Behavioral: COPE: Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy

Interventions

COPE: Communities Organizing for Power through Empathy BEHAVIORAL

A three session brief group psychoeducational intervention. Session 1 is 4 hours, Session 2 and 3 are 1.5 hours. It is delivered in groups of 8-15 people with sessions spaced 1 month apart.

COPE Intervention; House Meeting Control

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Individuals 18 years of age or older who are staff or members of an organization that is part of Together Baton Rouge and who participate in the intervention or are/were involved in the adaptation or implementation of the brief intervention in any capacity

You may not qualify if:

• Persons who are not 18 years of age or older and persons who are not staff or members of an organization that is part of Together Baton Rouge and/or not involved with the intervention

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Louisiana State University and A&M College: lead
• National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine: collaborator
• University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Together Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70802, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (1)

• Scott J, Powell T, Lee-Johnson NM. The Communities Organizing for Power Through Empathy (COPE) Community-Based Intervention to Improve Adult Mental Health During Disasters and Crises: Protocol for a Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial. JMIR Res Protoc. 2025 May 20;14:e63723. doi: 10.2196/63723.

  PMID: 40392582 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Psychological Well-Being; Anxiety Disorders; Depression

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Personal Satisfaction; Behavior; Mental Disorders; Behavioral Symptoms

Study Officials

• Jennifer L Scott, PhD, LCSW

  Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Jennifer L Scott, PhD, LCSW

CONTACT

225-578-0433; jenscott@lsu.edu

Tara L Powell, PhD

CONTACT

217-300-0917; tlpowell@illinois.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: October 12, 2023
• First Posted: October 23, 2023
• Study Start: March 25, 2023
• Primary Completion: June 1, 2025
• Study Completion: June 1, 2025
• Last Updated: October 23, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-10

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)