A Novel Social Emotional Learning Curriculum for Youth With Epilepsy
Youth with epilepsy (YWE) are significantly more likely than their peers without epilepsy to experience isolation, interpersonal victimization, and low relationship satisfaction. This is a serious health concern. Poor social support, real or perceived, is consistently correlated to worsened outcomes in every domain of health-related quality of life. As YWE are two to five times more likely than their peers without epilepsy to develop a mental health condition, poor social support is likely a bidirectional risk factor.
Currently, there are no best practices or recommendations for clinicians or other youth-serving professionals to reference when it comes to improving the perceived social support of YWE specifically.
The research team has drawn from multiple fields of scientific knowledge to develop a novel intervention that aims to provide YWE with knowledge, skills, connections, and positive emotional support that can help them to bolster their support system at every level of the social ecological model (SEM). The proposed study is a pilot of this intervention to test its acceptability and appropriateness according to YWE participants ages 12 to 26. The intervention's impact on participants social-emotional learning skills and the feasibility of expanding the study protocol for use in a large, multisite randomized control trial will also be explored.
The goal of this research study is to help evaluate a new program for young people diagnosed with epilepsy that will build up young people's social opportunities, interpersonal skills, and sources of emotional support. The investigators want to research the impact of this program. From this study, the investigators hope to learn what the program does well, and in what ways it could be improved from the perspective of YWE.
🗓️ Study Start (Actual)
August 2024
🗓️ Primary Completion (Estimated)
December 2024
✅ Study Completion (Estimated)
December 2024
👥 Enrollment (Estimated)
40
🔬 Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
📊 Phase
NA
Locations:
📍
Boston, Massachusetts, United States
Description
Inclusion Criteria:
- * Able to read, write, and communicate in English at 3rd grade level
- * Active epilepsy diagnosis (currently on anti-seizure medication or does not yet meet remission standards of 10 years without seizure and off all medication)
- * Epilepsy diagnosis clinically established for at least 6 months prior to the time of recruitment
- * The pediatric neurologist feels the patient would benefit from program participation.
- * Able to consistently join meetings on Zoom with functional audio and video reception
Exclusion Criteria:
- * During the consent process, if an eligible potential participant feels that participation would pose too much of a burden on their health or mental wellbeing, they will be excluded.
Ages Eligible for Study:
12 Years to 26 Years (CHILD, ADULT)
Sexes Eligible for Study: ALL
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:
No
These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported
results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before
being posted on the public website.
Study Registration Dates
- First Submitted
20 May 2024
- First Submitted that Met QC Criteria
20 May 2024
- First Posted
24 May 2024
Study Record Updates
- Last Update Submitted that Met QC Criteria
24 June 2024
- Last Update Posted
26 June 2024
- Last Verified
June 2024