We are All Ears: Improving students’ mental health and academic achievement

Last registered on November 30, 2022
View Trial History

Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
We are All Ears: Improving students’ mental health and academic achievement
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0010431
Initial registration date
November 22, 2022

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
November 30, 2022, 2:57 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

Country
Netherlands
Region
North-Holland

Primary Investigator

Name
Maddalena Totarelli
Affiliation
University of Amsterdam
Contact Primary Investigator

Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2022-11-23
End date
2024-08-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Mental health, health economics, counseling, academic performance
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
One in four university students experience mental health disorders (MHD). This is an age group in which the risk of MHD is particularly high, and care-seeking particularly low. I plan to evaluate, through a randomized control trial experiment run at the University of Amsterdam, whether an over-the-phone psychological counselling service has the potential to improve students’ mental health, decision making and, as a by-product, enhance their academic performance. In addition, this study will investigate the underlying mechanisms of why and for whom the intervention works in order to provide better tailored mental health services.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Totarelli, Maddalena. 2022. "We are All Ears: Improving students’ mental health and academic achievement." AEA RCT Registry. November 30. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.10431-1.0
Sponsors & Partners

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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
The intervention consists in four over-the-phone counselling sessions designed for university students. I will evaluate the impact of this intervention on students' mental health and academic achievement.
Intervention Start Date
2022-11-27
Intervention End Date
2023-03-31

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
- Loneliness;
- Depression (PHQ-9);
- Anxiety (GAD-7);
- Locus of control;
- Social anxiety;
- Interpersonal relationships.
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
- Beliefs and aspirations;
- Academic performance.
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The experimental design includes two treatment arms: a treatment group (TG) and a control group (CG).

1) TG: group of students who will be participate to the over-the-phone counselling sessions.

2) CG: group of students who will be provided information on the standard psychological counselling offered at the university.

Experimental Design Details
University students will be contacted via email and invited to join a mental health program upon completion of an online mental health screening performed through the the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item scale (GAD-7) and 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9).
Then, students will be randomly assigned to either the treatment or control group. Students in the treatment group will participate to four psychological sessions that take place remotely over the phone on a biweekly basis over a 2-months period. Whereas students in the control group will simply be provided with information on the standard psychological counselling offered at the university.

I plan to collect survey data (pre- and post-intervention) on students’ psychological distress using standardized scales such as the GAD-7 and the PHQ-9. Furthermore, I plan to match the survey data with academic performance (e.g., number of credits achieved, grades on exams, dropout, etc.) and demographic information. I will study the effectiveness of the intervention by comparing the treatment and control group.
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
Individual
Was the treatment clustered?
No

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1000 students
Sample size: planned number of observations
1000 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
500 students in the treatment arm and 500 in the control arm.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Economics & Business Ethics Committee (EBEC) at the University of Amsterdam
IRB Approval Date
2022-10-27
IRB Approval Number
EB-266
Analysis Plan

Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials