AdolescentSTACIINCT05572398
Online Bullying Bystander Intervention for Middle Schools Phase II
A study testing STAC-T in people with Adolescent and Bullying, run by Klein Buendel, Inc. at 2 sites in United States.
Trial summary
School interventions to reduce bullying can be effective but also require substantial time and resources. Online technologies have the potential to deliver effective bullying interventions to a large number of middle school students for less cost. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 11 years and olderHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Adolescent, Bullying, Technology
- What is being tested?
- STAC-T
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 613 participants
- Where
- 2 sitesUnited States
- Study dates
- 26 May 2022to 18 Nov 2024
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Yes, posted in the registrySummary in the doctors' view
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 11 years and older
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- being enrolled in grades 6, 7, or 8 in a middle/junior high school in Idaho, Oregon, Mississippi, or New Hampshire.
- being selected by school counselors and teachers for having a desire to make a positive difference at school, be mature, and have the ability to positively engage with peers and adults (Aims 1 and 2).
- speaks and reads English or Spanish.
- parent consents and student assents for participation.
- employed in a middle/junior high school in Idaho or Mississippi with grades 6, 7, or 8.
- employed as a principal, teacher, or school counselor.
- speaks and reads English or Spanish.
- consents to participate.
Who cannot join
- participated in a previous study on STAC.
- speaks and reads only a language other than English or Spanish.
- does not consent and/or assent for participation.
- participated in a previous study on STAC.
- speaks and reads only a language other than English or Spanish.
- does not consent for participation.
Trial locations and contacts
2 sites in 1 country.
United States2 sites
Boise State University
Boise, Idaho, 83725-1135
University of Mississippi
University, Mississippi, 38677-1848
About this study
Official title: Translating an In-Person Brief, Bystander Bullying Intervention (STAC) to a Technology-Based - Phase II
School interventions to reduce bullying can be effective but also require substantial time and resources. Online technologies have the potential to deliver effective bullying interventions to a large number of middle school students for less cost. The feasibility of delivering the effective STAC bullying intervention through a mobile web app will be tested using focus groups with middle school students and development and usability testing and the efficacy of the program will be tested using a randomized controlled trial.
Read the detailed description
While studies support the efficacy of comprehensive, school-wide interventions in reducing bullying, these types of programs can require significant time and financial resources for implementation, resulting in barriers to providing school-based bullying prevention, especially in low-income and rural communities. Additionally, although training bystanders to act as "defenders" on behalf of targets of bullying is an important intervention component, few programs include this as part of their comprehensive strategy. Brief programs that focus on bystander training and require fewer resources are needed to reduce bullying and its negative consequences. The PI (Dr. Midgett) developed STAC, a brief, stand-alone bullying bystander intervention for middle school students, to reduce bullying and mental health risks for bystanders. Brief, in-person programs, however, still pose implementation barrier such as training school personnel, providing external support, and not allowing for large groups of students to be trained at the same time. For this project, the investigators propose to develop a technology-based STAC intervention (STAC-T) that will allow students to customize their experience by selecting avatars and bullying scenarios based on our previous studies conducted in a range of middle schools, including those in low-income and rural communities. The investigators will also incorporate an assessment and personalized feedback component to promote behavior change. The innovative, user-centered design proposed will be inherently sensitive to cultural needs of students and identify personally-appropriate strategies. The specific aims of this application include building the program leveraging our prior work and expertise of an external advisory board, usability and effectiveness testing with middle school students and stakeholders to evaluate feasibility, and testing the efficacy of the program with a randomized controlled trial. The technology-based platform will increase the overall reach, impact, and sustainability of the STAC intervention for bullying prevention. It will substantially reduce cost to increase reach and its interactivity and algorithms can tailor program content to adapt it further for students attending low-income and rural schools. Thus, this low-cost, easy to disseminate technology-based bullying bystander intervention has the potential to have a substantial impact on the problem of bullying and the negative associated consequences for both students who are targets and bystanders in middle school when the problem of bullying peaks. There is a large market for the STAC-T intervention with approximately 100,000 public and private schools with middle-school grades in the United States. Globally, the online education market is growing at 10% a year and the digital health market exceeds $220 billion annually.
- Conditions
- Adolescent, Bullying, Technology, Mental Health
- Being tested
- STAC-T
- Medical subject headings
- Bullying, Psychological Well-Being
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
STAC-TBehavioural
Middle school participants will complete online modules to learn about anti-bullying techniques and bystander intervention.
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| STAC-T | Experimental | STAC-T is a brief technology-based bullying bystander intervention using four strategies: "Stealing the show," "Turning it over," "Accompanying others," and "Coaching compassion." The online curriculum is delivered to middle-school students. Receives: Behavioral: STAC-T |
| Assessment Only Control | No intervention | Assessment Only Control |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Student-Advocates Pre- and Post-Scale (SAPPS)
An 11 item questionnaire measuring students' knowledge of buying, knowledge of the STAC-T strategies, and students' confidence to intervene in bullying situations. Items are rated on a 4-point Likert Scale ranging from 1 (Totally Disagree) to 4 (Totally Agree) and were summed to compute a total scale score. The minimum value is 11 and the maximum value is 44, and a higher score means a better outcome.
Measured: Baseline assessment, 30-day assessment
Bullying and Cyberbullying Scale for Adolescents (BCS-A) - Victimization Scale at 30 Days
This questionnaire measures bullying and cyberbullying victimization in the past 30 days. The 13-item Victimization Scale assesses in-person bullying victimization with 8 items and cyberbullying victimization with 5 items. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert Scale ranging from 0 (Never) to 4 (Four or More Times) and were summed to compute a total scale score. The minimum value is 0 and the maximum value is 52, and a higher score means a worse outcome.
Measured: Baseline assessment, 30-day assessment
Use of Strategies at 30 Days Post-intervention
Questions rating the student's use of each STAC-T strategy using a single item rated on a 5-point Likert scale: "How often would you say you have used these strategies to stop bullying in the past month?" (a) Stealing the Show; (b) Turning it Over; (c) Accompanying Others; and (d) Coaching Compassion. Total strategies reflects the number of students who used at least one of the four STAC-T strategies. Results are reported for students who reported witnessing bullying in the past 30-days (n=125/229).
Measured: 30-day assessment
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted7 Oct 2022
- Study start26 May 2022
- Primary completion18 Nov 2024
- Study completion18 Nov 2024
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, outcome measures and adverse events reported by the sponsor.
- Other trials for AdolescentStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Enrolment
- 613 participants (actual)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Klein Buendel, Inc.
- Sponsor type
- Industry (pharma, biotech, devices)
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), Boise State University, University of Mississippi Medical Center
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Mary Buller, MA, Principal investigator, Klein Buendel, Inc.
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05572398
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- 0337
- Other IDs
- 5R42MD014943
- Acronym
- STACII
- Status last verified
- Feb 2026
- First submitted
- 20 Sep 2022
- Last updated
- 24 Feb 2026
- Results posted
- Yes, on ClinicalTrials.gov
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 24 Feb 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Translating an In-Person Brief, Bystander Bullying Intervention (STAC) to a Technology-Based - Phase II
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT05572398
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- STACII / 0337
- Conditions
- Adolescent, Bullying, Technology, Mental Health
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Completed
- Enrolment
- 613 participants (actual)
- Lead sponsor
- Klein Buendel, Inc.Industry (pharma, biotech, devices)
- Collaborators
- National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD), Boise State University, University of Mississippi Medical Center
- Study start
- 26 May 2022 (actual)
- Primary completion
- 18 Nov 2024 (actual)
- Study completion
- 18 Nov 2024 (actual)
- First posted
- 7 Oct 2022 (actual)
- Results
- Posted 24 Feb 2026
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
School interventions to reduce bullying can be effective but also require substantial time and resources. Online technologies have the potential to deliver effective bullying interventions to a large number of middle school students for less cost. The feasibility of delivering the effective STAC bullying intervention through a mobile web app will be tested using focus groups with middle school students and development and usability testing and the efficacy of the program will be tested using a randomized controlled trial.
Detailed description
While studies support the efficacy of comprehensive, school-wide interventions in reducing bullying, these types of programs can require significant time and financial resources for implementation, resulting in barriers to providing school-based bullying prevention, especially in low-income and rural communities. Additionally, although training bystanders to act as "defenders" on behalf of targets of bullying is an important intervention component, few programs include this as part of their comprehensive strategy. Brief programs that focus on bystander training and require fewer resources are needed to reduce bullying and its negative consequences. The PI (Dr. Midgett) developed STAC, a brief, stand-alone bullying bystander intervention for middle school students, to reduce bullying and mental health risks for bystanders. Brief, in-person programs, however, still pose implementation barrier such as training school personnel, providing external support, and not allowing for large groups of students to be trained at the same time. For this project, the investigators propose to develop a technology-based STAC intervention (STAC-T) that will allow students to customize their experience by selecting avatars and bullying scenarios based on our previous studies conducted in a range of middle schools, including those in low-income and rural communities. The investigators will also incorporate an assessment and personalized feedback component to promote behavior change. The innovative, user-centered design proposed will be inherently sensitive to cultural needs of students and identify personally-appropriate strategies. The specific aims of this application include building the program leveraging our prior work and expertise of an external advisory board, usability and effectiveness testing with middle school students and stakeholders to evaluate feasibility, and testing the efficacy of the program with a randomized controlled trial. The technology-based platform will increase the overall reach, impact, and sustainability of the STAC intervention for bullying prevention. It will substantially reduce cost to increase reach and its interactivity and algorithms can tailor program content to adapt it further for students attending low-income and rural schools. Thus, this low-cost, easy to disseminate technology-based bullying bystander intervention has the potential to have a substantial impact on the problem of bullying and the negative associated consequences for both students who are targets and bystanders in middle school when the problem of bullying peaks. There is a large market for the STAC-T intervention with approximately 100,000 public and private schools with middle-school grades in the United States. Globally, the online education market is growing at 10% a year and the digital health market exceeds $220 billion annually.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- None (open label)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| STAC-T | Experimental | Behavioral: STAC-TSTAC-T is a brief technology-based bullying bystander intervention using four strategies: "Stealing the show," "Turning it over," "Accompanying others," and "Coaching compassion." The online curriculum is delivered to middle-school students. |
| Assessment Only Control | No intervention | –Assessment Only Control |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 11 years and older
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (8 listed)
- being enrolled in grades 6, 7, or 8 in a middle/junior high school in Idaho, Oregon, Mississippi, or New Hampshire.
- being selected by school counselors and teachers for having a desire to make a positive difference at school, be mature, and have the ability to positively engage with peers and adults (Aims 1 and 2).
- speaks and reads English or Spanish.
- parent consents and student assents for participation.
- employed in a middle/junior high school in Idaho or Mississippi with grades 6, 7, or 8.
Key exclusion criteria (6 listed)
- participated in a previous study on STAC.
- speaks and reads only a language other than English or Spanish.
- does not consent and/or assent for participation.
- participated in a previous study on STAC.
- speaks and reads only a language other than English or Spanish.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| STAC-TMiddle school participants will complete online modules to learn about anti-bullying techniques and bystander intervention. | Behavioural | STAC-T |
Primary outcome
Student-Advocates Pre- and Post-Scale (SAPPS)
Time frame: Baseline assessment, 30-day assessment
An 11 item questionnaire measuring students' knowledge of buying, knowledge of the STAC-T strategies, and students' confidence to intervene in bullying situations. Items are rated on a 4-point Likert Scale ranging from 1 (Totally Disagree) to 4 (Totally Agree) and were summed to compute a total scale score. The minimum value is 11 and the maximum value is 44, and a higher score means a better outcome.
Bullying and Cyberbullying Scale for Adolescents (BCS-A) - Victimization Scale at 30 Days
Time frame: Baseline assessment, 30-day assessment
This questionnaire measures bullying and cyberbullying victimization in the past 30 days. The 13-item Victimization Scale assesses in-person bullying victimization with 8 items and cyberbullying victimization with 5 items. Items are rated on a 5-point Likert Scale ranging from 0 (Never) to 4 (Four or More Times) and were summed to compute a total scale score. The minimum value is 0 and the maximum value is 52, and a higher score means a worse outcome.
Use of Strategies at 30 Days Post-intervention
Time frame: 30-day assessment
Questions rating the student's use of each STAC-T strategy using a single item rated on a 5-point Likert scale: "How often would you say you have used these strategies to stop bullying in the past month?" (a) Stealing the Show; (b) Turning it Over; (c) Accompanying Others; and (d) Coaching Compassion. Total strategies reflects the number of students who used at least one of the four STAC-T strategies. Results are reported for students who reported witnessing bullying in the past 30-days (n=125/229).
Results and safety
Loading the posted results from ClinicalTrials.gov…
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 24 Feb 2026.
- Posted resultsParticipant flow, baseline, all outcome measures and adverse events.
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Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part. This study is not recruiting at the moment.
Mary Buller, MA principal investigator
Klein Buendel, Inc.
2 sites in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing STAC-T in people with Adolescent and Bullying, run by Klein Buendel, Inc. at 2 sites in United States.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 8 inclusion and 6 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: finished, as of the sponsor's last update on 24 Feb 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 2 sites in United States. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
Yes. Results are posted in the registry (first posted 24 Feb 2026). A summary is in the For doctors view, and the full results are on ClinicalTrials.gov.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
The record lists no contact. The official record names the sponsor, who can be asked directly. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Student-Advocates Pre- and Post-Scale (SAPPS) (time frame: Baseline assessment, 30-day assessment). The study lists 3 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 24 Feb 2026.