Recruiting

Mental Health Literacy

Sponsor:

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Code:

NCT07378254

Conditions

Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders

Substance Use

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 35

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Interventions

Finding Emotional Empowerment and Lifelong Strength

Study Details

Brief summary:

This study will build a partnership with a Community Advisory Board to co-produce, and then pilot test, a theory-guided mental health literacy intervention focused on trauma and substance use. Participants will take part in educational group sessions for 12 weeks and complete assessments at baseline and two follow-up time points (mid-intervention and post-intervention). Intervention participants will be randomly invited to post-study focus groups to gather feedback on their experiences in the program.

Conditions

Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders

Substance Use

Study ID

NCT07378254

Start date

Mar 10, 2026

Status verified date

Jun, 2026

Completion date

Jun, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Jun, 2028

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 35

Healthy Volunteers: Accepted

Inclusion Criteria:

1. Self-identify as Black or African American
2. Be between the ages of 18 and 35 years old
3. Endorse previous lifetime trauma exposure
4. Participants must speak English
5. Participants are capable of giving informed consent and capable of complying with study procedures.

Study Design

Enrollment

80 participants

Anticipated

Intervention Model

Single group

Primary purpose

Other

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

experimental: FEELS

Finding Emotional Empowerment and Lifelong Strength

Interventions

Finding Emotional Empowerment and Lifelong Strength

A group-based, 12-week educational intervention to help promote mental health literacy and related beliefs, especially related to trauma and substance use.

Primary outcome measure

  • Change in scores on the Multicomponent Mental Health Literacy Measure (MMHLM) [ Time Frame: 3-months ]
  • Change in scores on the Short Attitudes Towards Mental Health Problems Scale (SATMHPS) [ Time Frame: 3-months ]
  • Change in scores on the Mental Help Seeking Intention Scale (MHSIS) [ Time Frame: 3-months ]
  • Change in scores on the Self-Efficacy in Seeking Mental Health Care (SE-SMHC) [ Time Frame: 3-months ]
  • Participant engagement as assessed by rates of participant recruitment and proportion of eligible participants who are enrolled in the study [ Time Frame: 3-months ]
  • Participant satisfaction at mid- and post-intervention (quantitative) [ Time Frame: 3-months ]
  • Participant satisfaction at post-intervention (qualitative) [ Time Frame: 3-months ]
  • Participant retention and attendance at sessions [ Time Frame: 3-months ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Alexandria Bauer, PhD

848-209-1032alexandria.bauer@rutgers.edu

Locations

Center of Alcohol & Substance Use Studies

Recruiting

Piscataway, New Jersey, United States, 08854

Contacts

Alexandria G. Bauer

848-209-1032alexandria.bauer@rutgers.edu

More Information

Sponsor

Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey

Last update posted

Jun 18, 2026

Last verified

Jun, 2026

Keywords

  • mental health literacy
  • trauma
  • substance use
  • psychoeducation
  • Black and African American
  • young adults

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 2026-06-18.