The CIRC Center Research & Training Projects

Leadership

• Kathryn Sabella, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
• Paul Hyry-Dermith, Ph.D., Michelle Munson, Ph.D. and Bo Wang, Ph.D., Co-Investigators

Background

bryt (pronounced “bright”) is a short-term program for high school students with serious mental health conditions (SMHC) who are returning to school after extended absences due to psychiatric hospitalization or intensive outpatient therapy. Such students often feel socially isolated, overwhelmed by academic demands, and report lower levels of school connectedness. Prior research shows that young adults with SMHC who identify as BIPOC or are from low socioeconomic backgrounds face even greater challenges persisting in their educational pursuits and developing positive relationships with their schools. Therefore we will explore the feasibility, appropriateness, and acceptability of bryt specifically with this population of students.

Research Questions

1. In what ways does byrt need to be adapted to better meet the needs of BIPOC students and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds with SMHC who are returning from an extended absence?
2. Is there preliminary evidence that the adapted bryt is effective in supporting BIPOC students and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds with SMHC who are returning from an extended absence?
3. What research methods are needed for a future rigorous test of the adapted bryt among BIPOC and low socioeconomic students with SMHC?

Research Activities

1. Focus groups will be held with bryt students, families, and bryt coordinators about the needs and experiences of BIPOC students and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds who have received the bryt intervention. The information collected will be used to update the bryt intervention components if needed.
2. After adapting bryt to better meet the needs of BIPOC students and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds based on feedback, the research team will conduct a pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial of bryt with BIPOC students and those from low socioeconomic backgrounds.  

Leadership

• Megan Kelly, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
• Akihoko Masuda, Ph.D., Michelle Munson, Ph.D., and Ethan Moitra, Ph.D., Co-Investigators

Background

 LGBTQIA+ young adults often struggle to find safe and supportive communities due to societal stigma, discrimination, and harassment. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) is an evidence-based intervention that helps individuals commit to positive behavior change aligned with their values by accepting challenging thoughts and emotions. ACTsocial, a version of ACT adapted by the PI, Dr. Megan Kelly, helps individuals with serious mental health conditions (SMHC) to increase their social connectedness with family members, partners, friends, peers and increase social integration in the community. Flexible Living and Optimal Wellness (FLOW) is an identity-affirming adaptation of ACTsocial for young adults with SMHC who identify as LGBTQIA+.

Research Questions

1. What is the preliminary impact of FLOW on social connectedness and mental health among LGBTQIA+ YOUNG ADULTS with SMHC?
2. Is the FLOW approach acceptable to this group?
3. Is FLOW feasible to be studied in a larger clinical trial?

Research Activities

1. The proposed project will develop and evaluate FLOW to help LGBTQIA+ YOUNG ADULTS with SMHC improve social connectedness (i.e., increase social support and social integration) and enhance mental health by helping LGBTQIA+ YOUNG ADULTS with SMHC to increase their self-acceptance, more adaptively manage mental health symptoms and experiences of stigma and discrimination, and find positive supports in their community.

Now Recruiting for the Study

Leadership

• Elizabeth Thomas, Ph.D., Principal Investigator
• Eugene Brusilovskiy, M.U.S.A, Caterina Roman, Ph.D. and Recai Yucel, Ph.D., Co-Investigators

Summary

Involvement in child welfare, juvenile justice, and/or public mental health systems during childhood and early young adulthood can lead to reduced community participation, mental health issues, legal troubles, and social isolation as individuals age. To improve services and systems, policymakers need to identify high-risk individuals and target interventions accordingly. However, there are gaps in our knowledge of who is most at risk for poor outcomes, suggesting that additional research is needed.

Research Questions

1. What distinct longitudinal trajectories of child welfare, justice, and public mental health system involvement exist for the sample before the age of 21 years? 
2. What between-group differences exist among the various trajectories in terms of system setting, demographic, and clinical characteristics?  
3. To what extent does trajectory group membership predict employment outcomes between the ages of 22 and 26 years?

Research Activities

1. This study uses administrative data to see how being involved in various systems affects job outcomes for young adults with mental health challenges who come from disadvantaged backgrounds. It will use a statistical approach that profiles “developmental trajectories” of an outcome over age or time to examine the questions.

Leadership

• Kathryn Sabella, Ph.D. and Alicia Lucksted, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigators
• Elizabeth Thomas, Ph.D., Eugene Brusilovskiy, M.U.S.A, and the Youth Advisory Board (YAB), Co-Investigators

Summary

Young adults with serious mental health conditions (SMHC) are interested in participating in various community activities but often face barriers such as poverty and stigma. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way people participate in their communities, with more digital/online participation. We need an updated understanding of what community participation looks like among young adults with SMHC to design interventions, systems, and policies that meet their current experiences and needs. Additionally, this study will examine how young adults with SMHC from other disadvantaged backgrounds experience community participation to reduce disparities.

Research Questions

1. How are youth and young adults with SMHC from disadvantaged backgrounds conceptualizing and experiencing community participation in the post-COVID era?
2. To what extent are youth and young adults with SMHC from disadvantaged backgrounds participating in areas that are important to them in the post-COVID era?

Research Activities

We are approaching these research activities in two phases.

1. Since there is little research on community participation among disadvantaged young adults with mental health conditions before the pandemic, and the pandemic has brought about significant changes in community participation, we will start with qualitative interviews with 40 young adults.
2. We will use the qualitative data to create a survey that will allow us to measure community participation among a larger group of young adults with mental health conditions from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Leadership

• Gina Vincent, Ph.D. and Spencer Lawson, Ph.D., Co-Principal Investigators

Summary 

Risk-Need-Responsivity (RNR) is a strategy to reduce reoffending and increase community participation among young adults involved in the justice system with mental health issues. It involves assessing the individual's risk for reoffending, addressing their changeable risk factors, and providing services tailored to these needs. The strategy focuses on providing risk-reduction services and mental health services to improve community participation, prevent incarceration, and reduce legal interference. Although RNR is effective, implementing it can be challenging due to barriers across multiple sources of influence. Mental health services alone do not significantly impact reoffending, and limited availability of services can be an issue, particularly in rural areas. 

Research Questions

1. Where are current gaps in need-to-service matching?
2. What are system-, provider-, and participant-level implementation barriers and facilitators to need-to-service matching?
3. What are feasible and acceptable solutions for improving need-to-service matching?
4. How do questions 1-3 vary between rural and urban communities?

Research Activities 

1. This study uses different approaches to find ways to improve how resources are matched to the risk-needs of young adults in urban versus rural areas in two state programs. The programs are the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative in Massachusetts and Recovery Works in Indiana.
2. The project will engage with the individuals with legal involvement and mental health conditions who participate in these programs, as well as staff, to identify barriers and generate generalizable solutions.
3. The goal is to increase community involvement for individuals with legal involvement and mental health conditions by improving their access to effective services.  

Leadership

• Barbara Ferman, Ph.D. and Ieshia Nelson, M.A., Co-Principal Investigators
• Ethan Rodriguez, Consultant

Summary

This project trains young adults with serious mental health conditions from disadvantaged backgrounds to take action on social, economic, and political issues. Dr. Barbara Ferman, who has promoted civic engagement among disadvantaged young adults for over 25 years, leads the project. Civic engagement promotes personal and community well-being, but disadvantaged young adults face learning barriers.

Activities

1. Dr. Ferman and Ms. Nelson will partner with Young Adults to develop a civic engagement program specific to Young Adults with SMHC from disadvantaged backgrounds.
2. They will create ten 90-minute training sessions on topics such as disability justice, race-related power issues, the infrastructure of local systems, media as a social change tool, community outreach, voting, and volunteering.
3. The program will be implemented with up to 15 Young Adults from Philadelphia-based programs, refined, and prepared for wider dissemination.
4. The train-the-trainer package will be shared with Debbie Nicolellis to offer these trainings to Young Adult Access Centers in MA.

Leadership

• Natalie Stollon, LCSW, MPH, and Kathryn Burke, Ph.D.

Summary

Young Adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities are at a higher risk of SMHC, and experience other support needs that can affect their community participation. Most healthcare providers lack the knowledge to support such individuals. To address this, we will partner with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities  (LEND) program to develop new training content for promoting community living among Young Adults with SMHC and neurodevelopmental disabilities from disadvantaged backgrounds. This content will be integrated into CHOP's existing LEND program.

Activities

1. We will recruit 2-4 LEND fellows to create up to eight new training modules that follow cultural competence best practices and the RRTC research findings.
2. The modules will cover SMHC overview, disadvantaged youth populations with SMHC, and community inclusion and participation. 
3. Dr. Stollon will implement the new modules within the 2025-2026 cohort of CHOP LEND Fellows, and the Association of University Centers on Disabilities will share them with other LEND programs.

Leadership  

• Gretchen Snethen, PhD, CTRS , Principal Investigator
• Kyra Baker-Short, MSRT, Co-Principal Investigator
• Youth MOVE National, Consultant

Summary

Storytelling is an innately human tradition, by which people share their experiences and learn from one another. Stories of community participation written and shared by young people have the potential to highlight strengths and strategies young people use to engage in their communities. Directed by Dr. Snethen, this project builds on the Temple RRTC’s prior work (http://tucollaborative.org/wp-content/uploads/Storytelling-Manual.pdf) developing and implementing community participation storytelling trainings and hosting associated “storyslams.”   

This project supports peer support providers who work with Young Adults with SMHC from disadvantaged backgrounds to develop and share their own stories of community participation and use this process to support Young Adults in doing the same. Peer support is an emergent service within mental health services for Young Adults. Community participation stories feature experiences of participation in diverse topics like education, new jobs, independence, or friendship/family tales. Storytelling can be a powerful tool for peer support providers to inspire Young Adults with SMHC from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue their participation interests.  

Activities

1. Dr. Snethen and Ms. Baker-Short will work with Youth MOVE National representatives to adapt their storytelling training manual for Young Adults.
2. They will train peer providers from 10 Youth MOVE chapters through online workshops and ongoing technical support. 
3. The finalized training materials will be shared through various networks.