Implementing Learning 2 BREATHE in Campus Connections
Our objective in this study is to evaluate to what extent we can translate an evidence-based mindfulness program, tested most commonly in schools (Learning 2 BREATHE; L2B), for delivery within Campus Connections (as a youth service organization) with feasibility, acceptability, and integrity. We will examine if L2B can be translated into Campus Connections, and test whether mindfulness + mentoring benefits youth in terms of mental and physical health, as well as emotion regulation, relative to mentoring alone. Using surveys that teens fill out in their real lives during key points of the program, we’ll also examine the processes by which mindfulness and emotion regulation change for those in mindfulness + mentoring or mentoring only.
The Impact of University Experiences on College Students’ Emotional Well-Being
College students are increasingly mentoring youth experiencing adversity, yet little is known about the benefits that college students derive from their experience mentoring within the context of a service-learning course. Our prior qualitative research indicated that student mentors reported significant personal growth and professional development through participation in Campus Connections. The purpose of this study is to discover if participation in Campus Connections is associated with improved emotional well-being and mental health for college student participants.
Recent Grants
NIFA and the CSU College of Health and Human Sciences Agricultural Experiment Station (2023-2025), Preventing Unhealthy Eating and Excess Weight Gain For High-Risk Adolescents Across the State by Incorporating Mindfulness Training into Multiple Sites of a Mentoring Program, $59,700 (PI: Lucas-Thompson)
OVPR FY Quarterly Strategic Investment Program (2023-2025), Campus Connections Youth Mentoring as Intervention for Vulnerable Youth, $51,975 (co-PIs: Haddock and Lucas-Thompson)
National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, F31AT011642, (2021-Current), Ecological Momentary Assessment of Mechanisms of Change during a Mindfulness-based Intervention for At-risk Adolescents, $77,082 (PI: Miller; Faculty Sponsor: Lucas-Thompson)
College of Health and Human Sciences Seed Grant, (2022-2023), Feasibility and Acceptability of a Multi-Modal Adaptive Mindfulness Intervention Delivered through a Mentoring Program for At-Risk Teens, $14,993 (PI: Lucas-Thompson)
CSU College of Health and Human Sciences Dean’s Doctoral Fellowship, (2020-2021), The Investigation of Daily Mindfulness and Emotion Regulation as Therapeutic Mechanisms in a Mindfulness-based Intervention for Adolescent Depression and Metabolic Health, $20,000 (PI: Miller; Sponsor: Lucas-Thompson).
NIFA and the CSU College of Health and Human Sciences Agricultural Experiment Station (2019-2021), Dissemination of a Mindfulness Intervention for Prevention of Excess Weight Gain for High-Risk Teens Participating in a Mentoring Program, $51,975 (Co-PIs: Lucas-Thompson & Shomaker)
USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station, Hatch project MIN-52-093 College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota (2018-2021), A Closer Look: Examining Critical Factors in Youth Mentoring Practice (PI: Weiler)
William T. Grant Foundation (2015-2019), Mentor Families: A Setting Level Component to Improve Mentoring Outcomes for At-Risk Youth, $599,784.00 (co-PIs: Haddock and Henry)
USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agricultural Experiment Station, Hatch project MIN-52-057
College of Education and Human Development, University of Minnesota (2015-2018). Mentor “Families”: Testing an Innovative Approach to Promoting Positive Youth Development (PI: Weiler)
National Institute on Drug Abuse, #F31DA034416 (2012-2013) Prevention of Substance Abuse in Juvenile Delinquents: Identification of Important Mentoring Processes (PI: Weiler; Mentors: Youngblade & Henry)