Class
Article
College
Emma Eccles Jones College of Education and Human Services
Department
Psychology Department
Faculty Mentor
Melanie Domenech-Rodríguez
Presentation Type
Oral Presentation
Abstract
The purpose of this project was to extend prior work on developing an intervention to reduce discrimination-based stress, moving from Latinx college students to a broader audience of people of color. In addition, moving the intervention online from a face-to-face modality allowed the researchers to have a broader reach, thus broader impact and larger reach. The original intervention, Heart 2 Heart was developed for in-person delivery prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (Domenech Rodríguez Linares, 2020a). A single-subject design evaluation showed some evidence of promise in reducing discrimination-based stress, however, the project was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, we have shared the Heart 2 Heart intervention with United We Dream, a large national audience, and received very encouraging feedback (Domenech Rodríguez Linares, 2020b) for its need and effectiveness. Heart2Heart provides psychoeducation on racism, discrimination, trauma, and racial trauma, impacts of racial trauma, ways of coping, and practice in mindfulness. The current project built on the prior research by asking: Will discrimination-based stress levels decrease for students following one session of a discrimination-based stress reduction online intervention, Heart2Heart Online, using psychoeducation and mindfulness techniques? We expect that the stress reduction intervention using psychoeducation and mindfulness techniques particular to discrimination will lower discrimination-based stress levels in individuals compared to a wait list control group. Participants were students of color who attended Utah State University and had access to Canvas. The measures were demographics, discrimination-based stress, intervention acceptability/appropriateness/satisfaction, and knowledge gained from the intervention. Canvas was used to house the intervention materials and create modules for each of the H2H Online components, creating a fully engaging course students could work through at their leisure. The content that was typically delivered by an interventionist was delivered as online videos using through PowToons to keep the delivery fresh and engaging. This study was formatted as an RCT which collected data at four time points. Discrimination-based stress levels were gathered before the intervention (T1). Once T1 was completed, participants in the treatment condition will be able to complete the intervention, after which they would complete these measurements again (T2). One week after completing the intervention, participants were asked to complete the measures again at 1 week post-intervention (T3) and 2 weeks post-intervention (T4). These repeated measures allowed the researchers to determine the impact of the intervention over time within individuals documenting retention of gains, if applicable. Participants in the control condition completed measurements without access to the intervention. Once the intervention evaluation had concluded, participants in the control condition were given access to H2H Online. The findings found that the treatment groups discrimination-based stress levels fell following the intervention, while the control group’s baseline stayed fairly constant, showing efficacy and promise of this intervention session in its ability to reduce discrimination-based stress.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-11-2023 11:30 AM
End Date
4-11-2023 12:30 PM
Included in
Heart2Heart Online: A Discrimination-Based Stress Reduction Intervention for People of Color
Logan, UT
The purpose of this project was to extend prior work on developing an intervention to reduce discrimination-based stress, moving from Latinx college students to a broader audience of people of color. In addition, moving the intervention online from a face-to-face modality allowed the researchers to have a broader reach, thus broader impact and larger reach. The original intervention, Heart 2 Heart was developed for in-person delivery prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (Domenech Rodríguez Linares, 2020a). A single-subject design evaluation showed some evidence of promise in reducing discrimination-based stress, however, the project was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, we have shared the Heart 2 Heart intervention with United We Dream, a large national audience, and received very encouraging feedback (Domenech Rodríguez Linares, 2020b) for its need and effectiveness. Heart2Heart provides psychoeducation on racism, discrimination, trauma, and racial trauma, impacts of racial trauma, ways of coping, and practice in mindfulness. The current project built on the prior research by asking: Will discrimination-based stress levels decrease for students following one session of a discrimination-based stress reduction online intervention, Heart2Heart Online, using psychoeducation and mindfulness techniques? We expect that the stress reduction intervention using psychoeducation and mindfulness techniques particular to discrimination will lower discrimination-based stress levels in individuals compared to a wait list control group. Participants were students of color who attended Utah State University and had access to Canvas. The measures were demographics, discrimination-based stress, intervention acceptability/appropriateness/satisfaction, and knowledge gained from the intervention. Canvas was used to house the intervention materials and create modules for each of the H2H Online components, creating a fully engaging course students could work through at their leisure. The content that was typically delivered by an interventionist was delivered as online videos using through PowToons to keep the delivery fresh and engaging. This study was formatted as an RCT which collected data at four time points. Discrimination-based stress levels were gathered before the intervention (T1). Once T1 was completed, participants in the treatment condition will be able to complete the intervention, after which they would complete these measurements again (T2). One week after completing the intervention, participants were asked to complete the measures again at 1 week post-intervention (T3) and 2 weeks post-intervention (T4). These repeated measures allowed the researchers to determine the impact of the intervention over time within individuals documenting retention of gains, if applicable. Participants in the control condition completed measurements without access to the intervention. Once the intervention evaluation had concluded, participants in the control condition were given access to H2H Online. The findings found that the treatment groups discrimination-based stress levels fell following the intervention, while the control group’s baseline stayed fairly constant, showing efficacy and promise of this intervention session in its ability to reduce discrimination-based stress.