Recruiting

Soft-skills Training

Sponsor:

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Code:

NCT05766280

Conditions

Mental Health Wellness 1

Mental Health Wellness 2

Occupational Problems

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 16 - 24

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

iCareer Soft Skills Training for Employment

Study Details

Brief summary:

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of an internet- assisted Career-Oriented Work-Related Soft-skills Training (iCareer) intervention, infused with cognitive behavioral therapy, targeting individuals ages 16-24 with mental health conditions, to improve employment outcomes. The overall objective is to help transition-age youth (TAY) with psychiatric disabilities achieve optimal employment outcomes as part of successful transition to adulthood. Findings will have implications for enhancing and developing pre-employment services for TAY with psychiatric disabilities.

Conditions

Mental Health Wellness 1

Mental Health Wellness 2

Occupational Problems

Study ID

NCT05766280

Start date

Jun 23, 2023

Status verified date

Nov, 2024

Completion date

Mar 1, 2027

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Mar 1, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 16 - 24

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Age between 16 and 24 years
2. Must speak English fluently
3. Receiving Individualized Education Program (IEP)/504 Plan or disability services within the past 24 months with primary disability types of psychiatric disability
4. No hospitalizations or suicide attempts within the past 2 months
5. Willing to provide informed consent (if younger than 18, parental consent) to participate in the study
6. Interested in improving work-related social skills

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Current presence of neurological disease or brain injury
2. Psychiatric instability such as gross psychosis or acute suicidality
3. Current alcohol or substance dependence
4. Hospitalization or suicide attempts in the past 2 months

Study Design

Enrollment

126 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Factorial

Primary purpose

Treatment

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: Treatment

Soft Skills Training Intervention via telehealth

no intervention: Control

Treatment as Usual (TAU)

Interventions

iCareer Soft Skills Training for Employment

The telehealth iCareer intervention will be delivered during regular educational or vocational services (i.e., services from the Office of Disability Services (ODS) and/or from the school or college counseling center). Six modules of Soft Skills Training (SST), four group sessions for each module with 60 to 90 min for each session (depending on group size) will be delivered by trained project staff (graduate counseling student assistant or graduate counseling intern) via HIPAA-compliant Zoom videoconferencing. If participants are unable to join by Zoom videoconferencing, telephone (a format widely used in Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) treatment delivery and in CBT for depression) will be utilized. Ethical guidelines for providing telehealth over videoconferencing or phone will be followed.

Primary outcome measure

  • Higher Rates of Employment [ Time Frame: 12 months post intervention ]
  • Higher Number of Hours Worked [ Time Frame: 12 months post intervention ]
  • Increased Wages Earned [ Time Frame: 12 months post intervention ]
  • Improved Job Related Social Skills [ Time Frame: 12 months post intervention ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Weili Lu, PhD

908-889-2453luwe1@shp.rutgers.edu

Janice Oursler, PhD

908-889-2462ourslejd@shp.rutgers.edu

Locations

Rutgers Univeristy, Newark- Office of Disability Services

Recruiting

Newark, New Jersey, United States, 07102

Contacts

Lorren Whitaker, PhD

973-353-5375lorren.whitaker@rutgers.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Last update posted

Nov 14, 2024

Last verified

Nov, 2024

Keywords

  • transition age youth
  • mental health conditions
  • employment

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-09-10. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey on 2024-11-14.