Can a volunteering intervention (Team Social Action) improve teenagers' well-being?

ISRCTN	ISRCTN18086362
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN18086362
Secondary identifying numbers	N/A

Submission date: 26/09/2017
Registration date: 03/10/2017
Last edited: 07/05/2021

Recruitment status: No longer recruiting
Overall study status: Completed
Condition category: Other

Prospectively registered

Protocol

Statistical analysis plan

Results

Individual participant data

Plain English summary of protocol

Background and study aims
It is estimated that mental health problems impact one in ten children and young people. Research suggests that poor mental health is strongly related to other health and development concerns such as lower academic achievement, poor peer and school relationships, and lower well-being. Good mental health and social and emotional wellbeing gives young people the opportunity to develop resilience skills to cope with behavioural and mental health problems. Therefore, research is needed to develop cost-effective and feasible interventions for the promotion of wellbeing in young people. The current study aims to assess the effectiveness of the Team Social Action (TSA) intervention programme. TSA aims to support young people to foster interests, highlight achievements, develop life skills, understand their place in the world, and take on responsibilities, as well as increase connectedness to peers, school and/or the community. The current study will recruit about 300 secondary school pupils from Newham to examine whether TSA improves young people's wellbeing, peer relationships, and school connectedness.

Who can participate?
Pupils currently in Year 8 or Year 9 at a secondary school working in partnership with HeadStart Newham that is implementing TSA. Young people identified as having an emerging mental health difficulty by a professional or themselves.

What does the study involve?
Pupils are randomly allocated into one of two groups. Those in the first group participate in TSA during the first school term. During this time, those in the second group do not participate in any interventions. After the first group complete their participation, both groups complete online questionnaires that measure wellbeing, peer relationships, and school connectedness. After this, the second group go on to participate in TSA. The study lasts for one academic year.

What are the possible benefits and risks of participating?
Some pupils might find taking part in this study an interesting experience. Information obtained from this study may help us to understand more about what helps to increase young people’s wellbeing, inform future research, and help to improve services for young people. There are no known disadvantages to taking part.

Where is the study run from?
London Borough of Newham, Children and Young People’s Services (UK)

When is study starting and how long is it expected to run for?
May 2017 to September 2018

Who is funding the study?
Big Lottery Fund (UK)

Who is the main contact?
1. Prof. Neil Humphrey (scientific)
Neil.humphrey@manchester.ac.uk
2. Ms Valdeep Gill (public)
Valdeep.Gill@newham.gov.uk

Contact information

Prof Neil Humphrey
Scientific

University of Manchester, Manchester Institute of Education
Ellen Wilkinson Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)161 275 3404
Email	neil.humphrey@manchester.ac.uk

Mrs Valdeep Gill
Public

London Borough of Newham
Children and Young People’s Services
East Ham Town Hall
328 Barking Road
London
E6 2RP
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)20 3373 4559
Email	Valdeep.Gill@newham.gov.uk

Study information

Study design	Wait-list randomized controlled trial
Primary study design	Interventional
Secondary study design	Randomised controlled trial
Study setting(s)	School
Study type	Quality of life
Participant information sheet	Not available in web format, please use the contact details to request a patient information sheet
Scientific title	Improvement of well-being, peer relationships, and school connectedness through Team Social Action in secondary school students: a waitlist randomized controlled trial
Study objectives	The principal questions of the current study are: RQ1. What is the impact of Team Social Action intervention on young people’s self-reported mental well-being (SWEMWBS)? RQ2. What is the impact of Team Social Action intervention on young people’s self-reported school connection (SRS-School Connection)? RQ3. What is the impact of Team Social Action intervention on young people’s self-reported peer support (SRS-Peer Support)?
Ethics approval(s)	UCL Research Ethics Committee, 27/09/2017, ref: 3562/003
Health condition(s) or problem(s) studied	Wellbeing, peer relationships, and school connectedness
Intervention	A sample of approximately 300 pupils from 14 secondary schools in Newham will randomly be allocated into one of two groups, which will be balanced on year group (Year 8/Year 9) and gender (male/female): 1. Participate in Team Social Action (TSA) during the 2017 Autumn term 2. Be part of a waitlist comparison group who will participate in TSA in 2018 Spring term Dose: Weekly facilitated group activities Duration: One school term (10-12 weeks) How it is administered: Young people work as a group to identify a volunteering/social action project with school and or/community components and are supported to co-develop and complete said project. Up to 3 one-to-one sessions take place, with youth practitioners supporting students to reflect on their learning. The intervention is facilitated by trained youth practitioners.
Intervention type	Behavioural
Primary outcome measure	Wellbeing, measured using the Short Warwick Edinburgh Measure of Wellbeing (SWEMWBS) after the intervention group complete TSA but before the waitlist control group begin their participation (February-March 2018)
Secondary outcome measures	Peer relationships and school connectedness, measured using the Student Resilience Survey (SRS) after the intervention group complete TSA but before the waitlist control group begin their participation (February-March 2018)
Overall study start date	25/05/2017
Completion date	30/09/2018

Eligibility

Participant type(s)	Other
Age group	Child
Sex	Both
Target number of participants	300
Key inclusion criteria	1. Young people attending secondary schools in Newham that implement the TSA intervention 2. Young people in Years 8 and 9 3. Young people with an emerging mental health difficulty as identified by a professional (such as a teacher) or them self. 1:1 screening between young person and youth practitioner to determine level of difficultly and willingness to take part in TSA
Key exclusion criteria	1. Young people from schools that do not implement the TSA intervention 2. Young people from Years 7, 10, 11, 12 3. Young people that have returned a parental opt-out 4. Young people currently under care of CAMHS
Date of first enrolment	16/10/2017
Date of final enrolment	20/10/2017

Locations

Countries of recruitment

England
United Kingdom

Study participating centre

London Borough of Newham Children and Young People’s Services

East Ham Town Hall
328 Barking Road
London
E6 2RP
United Kingdom

Sponsor information

University of Manchester
University/education

Manchester Institute of Education
Ellen Wilkinson Building
Oxford Road
Manchester
M13 9PL
England
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)161 275 3404
Email	neil.humphrey@manchester.ac.uk
Website	http://www.manchester.ac.uk/
"ROR"	https://ror.org/027m9bs27

Anna Freud National Centre for Children and Families
Charity

Jordan House
47 Brunswick Place
London
N1 6EB
United Kingdom

Phone	+44 (0)20 7443 2218
Email	jessica.deighton@annafreud.org

Funders

Funder type

Charity

Big Lottery Fund
Private sector organisation / Other non-profit organizations

Alternative name(s): BIG
Location: United Kingdom

Results and Publications

Intention to publish date	01/03/2019
Individual participant data (IPD) Intention to share	No
IPD sharing plan summary	Not expected to be made available
Publication and dissemination plan	Planned publication in a high-impact peer reviewed journal sometime in early 2019 (February-March).
IPD sharing plan	The data will not be made available because it is subject to a data sharing agreement with the host local authority (Newham) and funder (Big Lottery Fund) that does not include it being made available publicly. The data will be held at the University of Manchester.

Study outputs

Output type	Details	Date created	Date added	Peer reviewed?	Patient-facing?
Funder report results		08/04/2019	07/05/2021	No	No

Editorial Notes

07/05/2021: Publication reference added.