BOUNCE BACK REPLICATION STUDY
In collaboration with Cicero School District #99 and Loyola University Chicago, CCR sought to replicate findings to establish efficacy of the Bounce Back intervention for elementary school students exposed to traumatic events. From 2014 to 2016, a total of 8 schools were randomly assigned to immediate treatment or to a waitlist control. 52 first through fourth grade students participated in the intervention, with differential treatment effects found for child-reported PTSD and parent-reports of children’s coping. Primary results were published the School Psychology Quarterly (Santiago, Raviv, Ros, Brewer, Distel, Torres, Fuller, Lewis, Coyne, Cicchetti, & Langley, A. (in press).
Co-PIs: Dr. Tali Raviv (Lurie Children’s CCR); Dr. Cate Santiago (Loyola University Chicago)
Collaborators: Cicero School District #99 (District Leadership, School Principal, and School-based Social Workers)
CCR Staff: Claire Coyne, PhD; Colleen Cicchetti, PhD; Krystal Lewis, PhD (former)
Approach/Methodology: The Bounce Back project sought to build on the results of the original randomized controlled trial of Bounce Back (Langley et al., 2015) and was the first replication trial of Bounce Back in a different school district and geographical area. Schools were randomized to immediate treatment or waitlist control conditions. The current study extended previous research in several ways. First, it provided a replication trial in order to expand the evidence base for Bounce Back. Second, it focused on “usual care” providers and resources to demonstrate effectiveness in a real-world community setting. Specifically, school-based clinicians were responsible for identifying and screening students, forming groups, and delivering the intervention with support typical for their school district, without added implementation assistance from a research team.
Hypotheses:
Students who received Bounce Back immediately would show greater symptom reduction at 3-month follow-up (post-treatment) compared to students assigned to delayed treatment
Students in the immediate treatment group would show maintenance of improvements from baseline to 6 months
Students assigned to delayed treatment would show symptom reduction upon receipt of treatment (3-6 months).
These hypotheses were evaluated for the primary outcome of PTSD symptoms, as well as anxiety, depression, coping skills, and classroom behavior.
Implementing the Bounce Back Trauma Intervention in Urban Elementary Schools: A Real-World Replication Trial - School Psychology Quarterly
Funded by the Lurie Children’s Hospital Advocacy Board and Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation