NCT07013357

Community Discussions and Social Participation

Digital, Community-Advised, Social Action Cluster-Randomized Trial to Increase Civic Participation and Social Connection in the US

• Status: Enrolling By Invitation
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 200 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Pennsylvania · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

This study evaluates a virtual program designed to boost the physical well-being goals, civic engagement, social connection, and anxiety of U.S. adults.

Detailed description

This single-blind, cluster randomized controlled trial aims to develop a virtual intervention designed to support US adults who wish to work with others to achieve physical wellbeing goals, improve social connectedness, promote community engagement, and reduce anxiety. Research coordinators randomize 10 participants to facilitator-led intervention sessions, and 10 to self-run discussion sessions by assigning random computer generated codes, sorting in ascending order, and alternating "control" and "experimental" assignments. This project is funded by the Annenberg Endowment of the Division of Communication Science.

Conditions

• Social Connectedness
• Community Engagement
• Physical Wellbeing

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Virtual Community Intervention	Participants will attend three Virtual intervention sessions, hosted on Zoom and facilitated by trained research team members. Co-facilitators (comprised of lab staff) will also be there to ensure no technical difficulties and record the meeting. Sessions will be held at the same time each week for three weeks. After each session, facilitators will be assessed for fidelity based on feedback from the session quality assessment survey. Every session will have its primary focus, respectively: Session 1 will focus on fostering social connections. Session 2 will focus on setting mental/physical wellbeing goals. Session 3 will focus on pursuing similar goals for their community. During the sessions, participants will work together and offer mutual support under the direction of the facilitator. Furthermore, facilitators will communicate with participants between sessions to check in on their progress toward their goals.
BEHAVIORAL	Control	Participants will attend three 90-minute Virtual self-help sessions, hosted on Zoom. Sessions will be held at the same time each week for three weeks, in parallel to the experimental condition. First, the co-facilitator will let participants into the Zoom room and begin the recording. After they introduce themselves, they will remain on mute/camera off for the entire meeting to handle technical difficulties or intervene when violations occur, for example, using inappropriate language. Co-facilitators may also interact with participants through the chat to provide referrals. Then, the discussion leader will explain their role and ask everyone to introduce themselves. As a group, they will set some ground rules. Then, the discussion leaders will guide the discussion, using the Self-Help Session Manual as a reference, which provides structure and reference questions to facilitate discussion. Beyond this guideline, participants can discuss anything they decide as a group.

Timeline

• Start date: 2025-12-04
• Primary completion: 2026-07-01
• Completion: 2026-07-01
• First posted: 2025-06-10
• Last updated: 2026-03-30

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States