Changing Youth Narratives on Firearm Violence ("Run It Up") Intervention

NCT06940362 | Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: NCR234833
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 1,000
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The Run It Up project is an experimental, theory-driven effort to address a specific connection between structural factors, youth identity development, and violence, where structural factors in some communities may limit adolescent beliefs about potential life-trajectories ("possible selves"), and foreground potential trajectories that include violence as integral. The intervention seeks to counter that dynamic by: 1) identifying alternative, non-violent identity trajectories that have attributes meaningful for youth and actualizing those trajectories through a community support structure; and 2) developing and disseminating multiple media products featuring narratives about these alternative trajectories. The goal is to change the calculation of possible selves for adolescents in the identity development stage through the introduction, and actualization, of desirable, tangible trajectories that do not involve violence or pro-violence norms, resulting in a reduction of youth involvement in firearm violence. The intervention and research is being conducted through a partnership between the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health and the Washington, DC community of Washington Highlands, and is funded through a grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD). In the first phase, formative research was completed to identify attributes and alternative non-violent trajectories, determine intervention elements, develop an intervention "brand" representing the attributes, develop a baseline-follow-up survey measuring theoretical mediators/moderators, outcomes, and other potential influencing factors, and identify community data to be used for a time-series analysis. Now in the second phase, the baseline data from a sample of community youth and parents/guardians are currently being collected prior to implementing the intervention. Evaluation is a two group, quasi-experimental community cohort design using survey and community-level data.

Conditions

Injury Prevention

Keywords

Community intervention, quasi-experimental design, youth firearm violence prevention

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Change in youth firearm violence involvement

  Change in self-reported violence involvement by participants (via survey) and changes in community violence data (incidence, from police and health tracking data).

  2 1/2 years

Study Arms (1)

Youth intervention arm

EXPERIMENTAL

Training and mentoring of 12-16 year old youth in non-violent personal/career trajectories, supported by a social media campaign and a community steering committee.

Behavioral: Changing narrative intervention modules

Interventions

Changing narrative intervention modules BEHAVIORAL

Training and mentoring of 12-16 year old youth in non-violent personal/career trajectories, supported by a social media campaign and a community steering committee.

Youth intervention arm

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 12 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Resident of intervention community, within age limits

You may not qualify if:

• Not resident of intervention community, outside of age limits

Sponsors & Collaborators

• George Washington University: lead
• National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD): collaborator

Study Sites (1)

George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health

Washington D.C., District of Columbia, 20052, United States

RECRUITING

Related Publications (3)

• Sokol R, Walton M, Lee D, Seewald L, Del Toro VM, Farooqui M, Sallabank G, Zimmerman M, Edberg M, Wang Y, Zakrison T, Tung EL, Hillegass WB, Vearrier L, Zhang L, Kutcher ME, Blachman-Demner D, Carter PM. Advancing Science to Prevent Firearm Violence in Communities: A Process for Harmonizing Studies to Develop Research Infrastructure. Prev Sci. 2024 Oct;25(7):1122-1132. doi: 10.1007/s11121-024-01723-5. Epub 2024 Sep 20.

  PMID: 39304578 BACKGROUND

• Edberg MC, Cleary SD, Andrade EL, Evans WD, Quinteros-Grady L, Alvayero RD, Gonzalez A. The Adelante project: Realities, challenges and successes in addressing health disparities among central American immigrant youth. Cultur Divers Ethnic Minor Psychol. 2022 Jul;28(3):402-412. doi: 10.1037/cdp0000368. Epub 2021 Dec 23.

  PMID: 34941282 BACKGROUND

• Edberg M. The cultural persona as nexus between structural marginalization and youth risk behavior. J Community Psychol. 2020 Sep;48(7):2138-2155. doi: 10.1002/jcop.22368.

  PMID: 32841383 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Mark Edberg, PhD, MA

  George Washington University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Central Study Contacts

Mark Edberg, PhD, MA

CONTACT

1-202-994-3584; medberg@gwu.edu

Nisha Sachdev, DrPH, PsyD

CONTACT

nasachde@email.gwu.edu

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: NA
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: SINGLE GROUP
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: Quasi-experimental design, with intervention and comparison community

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 16, 2025
• First Posted: April 23, 2025
• Study Start: April 7, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): November 7, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): November 30, 2027
• Last Updated: February 12, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-02

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)