# A Trauma-Informed Intervention for Positive Youth Development and Teacher Wellness in Rural Montana > **NIH NIH P20** · MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY - BOZEMAN · 2021 · $154,154 ## Abstract This study is intended to help mitigate stressors that may contribute to poor behavioral and mental health in high school–aged students and teachers. The immediate goals of this study are: 1) measure the physical and mental health outcomes in adolescents resulting from a trauma-informed yoga intervention designed to foster positive youth development; and 2) promote student health by supporting teacher wellbeing through a concurrent, remotely delivered, trauma-informed yoga intervention. Aim 1: Expansion of pilot study to teachers in the Livingston, MT, school district. Aim 2: Expand study to Livingston high school students/teachers and use virtual delivery to rural schools in Park County, MT. Aim 3: Conduct outcome and process evaluation to determine the most effective intervention design. Methods: This study will enroll a minimum of 30 Livingston teachers (taught trauma-informed yoga via Zoom) in Year 1 and will aim to add 30 Livingston high school and rural Park County high school students and teachers to the intervention in Year 2 (delivered via Zoom). Twice weekly 45-minute trauma-informed yoga sessions during the 6-week intervention period will occur remotely (for teachers and Park County high school students) and face-toface for Livingston students. To measure physical health outcomes, pre-, mid-, and post-intervention cortisol testing will be utilized to evaluate any changes in student and teacher stress levels before and after the program. Heart rate variability will also be assessed for students and teachers pre-, mid-, and postintervention using the HeartMath Inner Balance PPG sensor and Em Wave Pro Plus software. To assess behavioral health, pre- and post-survey instruments will collect targeted wellness/mental health data from students and teachers. An Adverse Childhood Experience Self-Reporting Screener will also be given to participants to establish a baseline of exposure to childhood trauma, which is closely correlated with health outcomes (Burke-Harris, 2018). To assess teacher wellness, the same physical health data and similar mental health assessments as students (focusing on depression and anxiety) will be collected, and teachers will also complete the Teachers’ Sense of Self Efficacy Survey and the Professional Quality of Life Index, which are linked to teacher mental health, retention, and career satisfaction. To explore scalability to rural communities without access to yoga instructors, we will implement a limited feasibility study of online yoga delivery to classroom teachers (both in Livingston and in rural Park County) and to students (in rural Park County). ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 10486282 - **Project number:** 5P20GM104417-08 - **Recipient organization:** MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY - BOZEMAN - **Principal Investigator:** Lauren Davis - **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2021 - **Award amount:** $154,154 - **Award type:** 5 - **Project period:** 2021-09-01 → 2024-08-31 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10486282 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10486282, A Trauma-Informed Intervention for Positive Youth Development and Teacher Wellness in Rural Montana (5P20GM104417-08). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10486282. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*