The Future Leaders Program (FLP) Randomized Controlled Trial

The FLP is a research study funded by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), which is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In a partnership between Boston University (BU), Mass General Hospital (MGH), and the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), this study will test the effectiveness of the Leadership, Engagement, and Youth Activism Program with Mindfulness (LEAP) in improving mental health and wellbeing among high school students. The LEAP program focuses on youth leadership and civic action. High school students work together to identify community challenges and to take steps to enact change. LEAP also involves mindfulness activities, which involve focusing on awareness of how people think and feel in the present moment and in relation to their civic work.

The active comparator, EnvisionIT, is an evidence-based college and career readiness program designed to learn skills for conducting college and job searches, preparing applications, and job interviewing. Students in this program put together a portfolio that they can use in future job searches.

Both programs are fun, interactive, and involve working collaboratively together. High schoolers will be randomly assigned to participate in one of the two programs. Students will be recruited in Boston and Chicago, and will attend program sessions twice a week for seven weeks (14 sessions). Project website: Future Leaders

Our specific aims are as follows:

Aim 1: Test the effectiveness of LEAP on youth socioemotional, mental, and physical health immediate post-intervention (2-3 months).

Aim 2: Test potential mediators in the association between LEAP and youth socioemotional, mental, and physical health immediate post-intervention (2-3 months).

Aim 3: Test whether improvements in youth socioemotional, mental, and physical health because of LEAP are stronger among Black and Latinx students compared to White students.

Aim 4: Test whether the effectiveness of LEAP remains significant three- and six-months post-intervention.

Aim 5: Identify potential pathways influencing the link between LEAP and youth socioemotional, mental, and physical health.

Aim 6: Evaluate the cost-effectiveness of LEAP compared with the EnvisionIT.

Funding acknowledgement

This project is funded by the National Center for Complimentary and Integrative Health, Grant Number: UH3AT012530.