# A trauma informed intervention to improve mental health and school success for urban eighth graders - supplement

> **NIH NIH R01** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $163,750

## Abstract

ABSTRACT. The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has dramatically impacted the lives of adolescents,
with potential negative implications for health and wellbeing across the life course. These impacts are
particularly pronounced for low-income adolescents of color, who are disproportionately exposed to stresses
and traumas associated with the pandemic, such as family illness, school disruption, food insecurity, and
financial strain. These exposures are likely to exacerbate pre-existing inequities in mental health, putting low-
income youth of color at increased risk for mental health problems. It is critical that we identify interventions
and supports to improve mental health for vulnerable adolescents during and following the current crisis. To
achieve that goal, this competitive revision will leverage an existing parent study (IES R305A160082 /
1RO1HD090022, PI: Mendelson), an efficacy trial to test the impact of a trauma-informed universal intervention
called RAP Club on mental health outcomes for predominantly Black 8th grade students in low-income urban
communities. Participants were recruited from 29 urban public schools, with separate cohorts enrolled each
year for four years (Cohorts 1-4). Three student and teacher assessments during 8th grade and a follow-up
student assessment during 9th grade provided multi-level longitudinal data on adolescent mental health and
individual, family, peer, school and neighborhood risk and protective factors for adolescent mental health. This
urgent competitive revision will extend the parent trial by collecting new quantitative and qualitative data during
COVID-19. The study will be conducted without any in-person contact. We will enroll students in Cohorts 2-4 (n
= 500) who are now in grades 9-11. We will administer a virtual survey to evaluate participants’ mental health
during COVID-19, as well as COVID-related experiences. We will also conduct qualitative phone interviews
with a subset of participants and their caretakers to understand adolescents’ experiences during COVID-19 in
greater depth. The study will: (1) test the impact of RAP Club on adolescents’ mental health during COVID-19,
and (2) identify longitudinal multi-level risk and protective factors that predict adolescent mental health during
COVID-19, controlling for intervention arm. Moderators and mediators will be evaluated for each aim. We will
assess multiple domains of mental health, including emotional wellness, and will use geographic information
systems (GIS) data to explore neighborhood factors. This project represents an extraordinary opportunity to
assess the impact of COVID-19 on adolescent mental health and potential strategies for increasing mental
wellness during COVID-19 and beyond. Few mental health intervention studies have collected such extensive
multi-level data on a primarily Black, low-income urban adolescent sample at multiple time points, and none to
our knowledge have assessed mental health during a pandemic. The st...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10229056
- **Project number:** 3R01HD090022-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Laura Kathleen Clary
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $163,750
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-09-11 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10229056

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10229056, A trauma informed intervention to improve mental health and school success for urban eighth graders - supplement (3R01HD090022-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10229056. Licensed CC0.

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