Study of Student Flourishing

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Digital toolkit: A mobile application providing a science-based digital toolkit and AI chatbot.

Mental Health America Resources: Access to national mental health resources from Mental Health America, which can be found here: https://mhanational.org/resources/.

Study summary

The goal of this study is to learn how a science-based mobile app, called Flourish, affects student well-being.

The main questions it aims to answer are:

1. Does receiving access to the Flourish app increase well-being (e.g., positive affect, loneliness, belonging) among students?
2. Does using the Flourish app in combination with a human buddy/friend lead to better outcomes than using the app alone?

Researchers will compare three different groups to see if and how the Flourish app works to improve student well-being:

1. Waitlist Control Group: Students continue with existing school resources.
2. Flourish App Group: Students use the Flourish app (a digital toolkit and AI chatbot) twice per week.
3. Flourish App + Buddy Group: Students use the Flourish app twice per week with someone else as a "Flourish Buddy".

Participants will:

Be randomly assigned to one of the three groups listed above. Use the app or continue with regular resources for 6 weeks. Complete four short online surveys about their well-being (at the beginning, during the 6 weeks, and at the end).

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Subcomponents of Affect Scale — Baseline, bi-weekly for 6 weeks (3 time points)
  The Subcomponents of Affect Scale (SAS) is an 18-item measure of affect, divided into nine positive and nine negative adjectives. Positive subscales include calm, well-being, and vigor, while negative subscales include depression, anxiety, and anger. Participants rate each adjective from 0 (not at all accurate) to 4 (extremely accurate) based on their feelings over the past two weeks. Total scores for positive and negative affect are summed from their subscales.
• Implicit Theories of Emotion — Baseline and 6 weeks post-baseline
  Implicit theories of emotion were assessed using the Implicit Theories of Emotion Scale, adapted from Dweck's Implicit Theories of Intelligence framework. The scale includes four items assessing beliefs about whether emotions are malleable (incremental) or fixed (entity). Participants rate each item on a 6-point scale from 1 ("Strongly disagree") to 6 ("Strongly agree"). The two entity items are reverse-scored, and all items are averaged to create a single score ranging from 1 to 6, with higher scores indicating stronger endorsement of an incremental (malleable) theory of emotion.
• Loneliness — Baseline, bi-weekly for 6 weeks (3 time points)
  The UCLA 3-Item Loneliness Scale is a brief measure assessing subjective feelings of loneliness and social isolation. Participants rate each item on a 3-point scale, from 1 (hardly ever) to 3 (often), with higher scores indicating greater loneliness.
• Perceived Cohesion — Baseline, 6 weeks post-baseline
  The Perceived Cohesion Scale measures a sense of belonging and morale within a community using a Likert scale from 0 (strongly disagree) to 10 (strongly agree). For our purposes, we use a single-item version: "I see myself as part of the campus community."
• Closeness to University — Baseline and 6 weeks post-baseline
  Closeness to one's university was assessed using a modified single-item Inclusion of Other in the Self measure. Participants were shown seven pairs of increasingly overlapping circles and asked, "Which picture best describes your relationship with your university?" Responses range from 1 to 7, with higher scores indicating greater perceived closeness to the university.
• Perceived Social Support (PSSS-3) — Baseline, bi-weekly for 6 weeks (3 time points)
  Perceived social support was assessed using a 3-item short form based on the ACO (PSSS-A6) and adapted from the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS). Participants rate each item on a 7-point scale from 1 ("Very Strongly Disagree") to 7 ("Very Strongly Agree"). Total scores are summed, yielding a range from 3 to 21, with higher scores indicating greater perceived social support.
• Mindfulness (Mindful Attention Awareness Scale) — Baseline and 6 weeks post-baseline
  Mindfulness was assessed using a 5-item short form of the Mindful Attention Awareness Scale (MAAS), modified to assess experiences over the past two weeks. Participants rate each item on a 7-point scale from 0 ("Not at all") to 6 ("Very much"). Items are averaged to create a total score ranging from 0 to 6, with higher scores reflecting lower mindfulness. For interpretability in analyses, this score is reverse-scored so that higher values indicate greater mindfulness.
• Resilience — Baseline, 6 weeks post-baseline
  The Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) is a 6-item measure of stress recovery, rated from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). Higher scores indicate a stronger ability to "bounce back" after setbacks.
• Flourishing Scale — Baseline, 6 weeks post-baseline
  The Flourishing Scale is an 8-item measure of psychological well-being. Respondents rate items from 1 ("Strongly disagree") to 7 ("Strongly agree"), yielding a total score range from 8 to 56. Higher scores indicate greater well-being and flourishing.
• Retention / Enrollment Intention — Baseline, 6 weeks post-baseline
  Retention intention was assessed using 2 items evaluating students' likelihood of continuing their enrollment. Participants respond to "How likely are you to stay enrolled next quarter/semester?" on a 5-point scale from 1 ("Very unlikely") to 5 ("Very likely"). A second item asks, "How often have you considered leaving your college/university in the past semester?" rated from 1 ("Never") to 5 ("Very often"). Higher scores on the first item indicate greater intention to persist, while higher scores on the second item indicate greater consideration of leaving.

Trial sites (11)

Other trials for the same condition