Empathy EducationRAISE-PTNCT07759531
This Study Aims to Evaluate the Cultural Adaptation, Implementation, and Effectiveness of the RAISE Program Grounded in Malti's 3 E's Model and the Kindness Developmental Paradigm in Portugal
A study testing raise in people with Empathy Education, run by ISPA - Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Psicologicas, Sociais e da Vida.
Trial summary
Child mental health has become a pressing global concern, with 13-20% of children and adolescents presenting mental disorders and about half of adult disorders emerging before age 18. Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 24 to 65 yearsHealthy volunteers can take part
- Conditions the study is for
- Empathy Education
- What is being tested?
- raise
- Type of treatment
- Lifestyle or therapy programme
- Could I receive a placebo?
- No, everyone receives an active treatment
- How many people
- 120 participants
- Where
- No sites listed yet
- Study dates
- 1 Oct 2026to 31 Dec 2027
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
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 24 to 65 years
- All sexes
- Healthy volunteers accepted
- Adult, Older adult
Who may be able to join
- being actively employed as an educator or teacher working with children aged 3 to 8 years;
- being fluent in Portuguese;
- having access to an internet-enabled electronic device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, or computer) to participate in the online training;
- being available to participate in all phases of the study, including the online training sessions, follow-up assessments, and questionnaire completion;
- providing informed consent to participate in the training, follow-up sessions, and questionnaire completion.
Who cannot join
None listed.
Trial locations and contacts
No sites are listed yet. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
About this study
Official title: Promoting Early Childhood: Implementation and Evaluation of the RAISE in Portugal
Child mental health has become a pressing global concern, with 13-20% of children and adolescents presenting mental disorders and about half of adult disorders emerging before age 18. Socioemotional development - encompassing emotion regulation, self-empathy, and empathy for others - is considered a cornerstone of mental health and a key protective factor. Although primary caregivers are central to fostering these competencies, educators also play a decisive role once children enter preschool, while being themselves particularly vulnerable to burnout, with consequences for classroom climate and child outcomes. Integrated programs that simultaneously support children's development and adults' socioemotional competencies are therefore needed, yet remain scarce in Portugal. This study aims to evaluate the cultural adaptation, implementation, and effectiveness of the RAISE program (Research and Practice Partnership: Building Awareness and Increasing Social-Emotional Capacity in the Early Years), developed in Canada and grounded in Malti's 3 E's model and the Kindness developmental paradigm. A Randomized Controlled Trial will be conducted with approximately 100 educators from public and private institutions, randomly allocated to an intervention or waitlist control group. RAISE is delivered online over three weeks, combining asynchronous videos and synchronous group sessions across three modules. Assessments at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up will use multi-informant measures, including the DASS-21, SDQ, and SERT. Data will be analyzed through mixed ANOVA models following intention-to-treat principles. Findings are expected to inform the feasibility and cultural relevance of integrated, prevention-oriented socioemotional programs and to contribute to early childhood mental health promotion in Portugal.
Read the detailed description
Child mental health has become one of the most pressing public health concerns worldwide. It is estimated that between 13% and 20% of children and adolescents present some form of mental disorder, such as anxiety or depression, and approximately half of adult mental disorders begin before the age of 18 . These figures underscore the importance of promoting psychological well-being from early childhood and of identifying domains that play a protective role for mental health. Among these, socioemotional development has been described as the foundation of mental health, integrating emotional and social competencies that are fundamental for recognizing and self-regulating emotions, constructing identity, establishing positive interpersonal relationships, supporting learning, and making responsible decisions .
Among the theoretical models seeking to explain the development of these competencies, Malti's framework organizes socioemotional development around three components - the 3 E's: Emotion Regulation, Self-Empathy, and Empathy for Others. Emotion regulation, the first of these components, refers to the human capacity to control the occurrence, intensity, and expression of internal states in order to achieve goals and develop morally appropriate behaviors , involving both adaptive strategies (e.g., cognitive reappraisal) and maladaptive strategies (e.g., rumination, suppression) . Emotion regulation develops across the lifespan, initially supported by processes of hetero- and co-regulation with attachment figures and progressively internalized into self-regulatory skills, particularly between the ages of 3 and 4. Empathy, in turn, constitutes a central indicator of socioemotional development and unfolds across three dimensions - affective, cognitive, and behavioral - whose emergence begins in the first months of life and becomes progressively more complex throughout childhood .
Although primary caregivers play a central role in the development of these competencies , as children gain autonomy and enter preschool education, their relational world expands beyond the family context . From this ecological perspective, educators and teachers emerge as authentic agents with a decisive role in promoting children's socioemotional competencies . At the same time, the socioemotional competencies of these professionals themselves shape classroom climate and children's development . Yet the complexity of the profession and continuous exposure to emotional demands make educators and teachers particularly vulnerable to burnout and exhaustion - the so-called "burnout cascade" with direct implications for their well-being and for the quality of their interactions with children .
Considered jointly, these lines of evidence converge on the need for socioemotional learning programs that adopt an integrated approach - one that fosters children's development while simultaneously supporting the socioemotional competencies and well-being of caregivers and educators, and that addresses protective and risk factors for mental health. It is within this framework that the RAISE program (Research and Practice Partnership: Building Awareness and Increasing Social-Emotional Capacity in the Early Years) emerges, developed at the Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy (Canada), and grounded in Malti's E's model and in the developmental paradigm of Kindness . The program targets caregivers and education professionals working with children aged 3 to 8 and is organized into three modules - socioemotional development, early relationships (the 3 C's: connection, caring, and coaching), and developmental indicators such as well-being and stress - articulating three core pillars: knowledge, practice, and routine .
In Portugal, the scarcity of structured programs aimed at promoting socioemotional competencies among education professionals makes the cultural adaptation and evaluation of RAISE particularly relevant. The present study therefore aims to evaluate the adaptation, implementation, and effectiveness of the program in the Portuguese context, examining its impact on (i) professionals' knowledge and practices, (ii) professionals' mental health, (iii) children's socioemotional competencies, and (iv) children's mental health, as well as (v) the associations between these variables. It is hypothesized that professionals and children allocated to the intervention group will show significantly greater improvements in these indicators over time compared to those in the control group.
- Conditions
- Empathy Education
- Being tested
- raise
- Keywords
- Empathy, emotional development, Teacher, behavioral problems
- Medical subject headings
- Problem Behavior
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
raiseBehavioural
The RAISE training is delivered over three weeks and comprises three modules. Each module includes an asynchronous session (three self-paced 15-minute videos on definitions, developmental examples, and home strategies) followed by a 90-minute synchronous group session focused on practice, mindfulness, discussion, and interactive activities. The modules cover, respectively, the 3 E's of social-emotional development (emotion regulation, self-empathy, and empathy toward others), the 3 C's of early relationships (connection, caring, and coaching), and developmental indicators such as well-being, resilience, and stress, with educators receiving additional content on assessment tools. Follow-up sessions are held one week and two months after completion, and participants retain unlimited online access to all materials (Speidel et al., 2021, 2023, 2024).
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention with Raise | Active comparator | Intervention Receives: Behavioral: raise |
| Control Group | No intervention | No Intervention |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997)
The SDQ (Goodman, 1997; Portuguese version: Fleitlich, Loureiro, Fonseca, \& Gaspar, 2005) assesses children's strengths and difficulties across five domains: (1) emotional symptoms, (2) conduct problems, (3) hyperactivity/inattention, (4) peer problems, and (5) prosocial behavior. The scale has 25 items rated on a 3-point scale (0 = not true, 1 = somewhat true, 2 = certainly true). Children's competencies (strengths) are assessed through the prosocial behavior domain, whereas the total difficulties score is derived from the remaining four domains.
Measured: Baseline, up to five weeks, up to 13 weeks
Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale - 21 (DASS-21)
The DASS-21 (Lovibond \& Lovibond, 1995; Portuguese version: Pais-Ribeiro, Honrado, \& Leal, 2004) is a self-report scale designed to assess the emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. It comprises 21 items, each rated on a 4-point scale (0 = did not apply to me at all to 3 = applied to me very much, or most of the time). The scale comprises three subscales: (1) depression (7 items), assessing symptoms such as inertia, dysphoria, lack of interest or involvement, anhedonia, self-deprecation, discouragement, and devaluation of life; (2) anxiety (7 items), assessing autonomic arousal, subjective experiences of anxiety, musculoskeletal effects, and situational anxiety; and (3) stress (7 items), assessing difficulty relaxing, ease of being upset or agitated, nervous arousal, irritability, exaggerated reactions, and impatience.
Measured: Baseline, up to five weeks, up to 13 weeks
Social-Emotional Responding Task (SERT; Malti, 2017)
The SERT (Malti, 2017) is an instrument for assessing social-emotional development in children aged 4 to 8 years across four domains: (1) emotion regulation, (2) healthy guilt, (3) self-sympathy, and (4) sympathy for others (Malti, 2017; Malti et al., 2021). The 29-item questionnaire uses a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) and asks caregivers and educators/teachers to rate the child's behavior based on interactions with others and reactions to specific scenarios (e.g., "My child feels bad for other children who are sad").
Measured: Baseline, up to five weeks, up to 13 weeks
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted12 Aug 2026
- Study start1 Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion30 Dec 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Other trials for Empathy EducationStudies 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
- Triple blind
- Who is masked
- Participant, Investigator, Outcomes assessor
- Enrolment
- 120 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- ISPA - Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Psicologicas, Sociais e da Vida
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Câmara Municipal Oeiras
- Responsible party
- Sponsor
- Investigators
- Manuela Verissimo, PhD, Principal investigator, ISPA - Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Psicologicas, Sociais e da Vida
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07759531
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- E-I-006-03-26
- Acronym
- RAISE-PT
- Status last verified
- Aug 2026
- First submitted
- 3 Aug 2026
- Last updated
- 12 Aug 2026
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- No
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No: Intellectual Property Data (IPD) might not be shared due to concerns about confidentiality and legal restrictions. Sharing it could risk exposing proprietary or sensitive information, including details that may affect entire family's privacy.
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 12 Aug 2026. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Promoting Early Childhood: Implementation and Evaluation of the RAISE in Portugal
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT07759531
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- RAISE-PT / E-I-006-03-26
- Conditions
- Empathy Education
- Keywords
- Empathy, emotional development, Teacher, behavioral problems
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 120 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- ISPA - Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Psicologicas, Sociais e da VidaUniversity, hospital or other
- Collaborators
- Câmara Municipal Oeiras
- Study start
- 1 Oct 2026 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- 30 Dec 2027 (estimated)
- Study completion
- 31 Dec 2027 (estimated)
- First posted
- 12 Aug 2026 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
Child mental health has become a pressing global concern, with 13-20% of children and adolescents presenting mental disorders and about half of adult disorders emerging before age 18. Socioemotional development - encompassing emotion regulation, self-empathy, and empathy for others - is considered a cornerstone of mental health and a key protective factor. Although primary caregivers are central to fostering these competencies, educators also play a decisive role once children enter preschool, while being themselves particularly vulnerable to burnout, with consequences for classroom climate and child outcomes. Integrated programs that simultaneously support children's development and adults' socioemotional competencies are therefore needed, yet remain scarce in Portugal. This study aims to evaluate the cultural adaptation, implementation, and effectiveness of the RAISE program (Research and Practice Partnership: Building Awareness and Increasing Social-Emotional Capacity in the Early Years), developed in Canada and grounded in Malti's 3 E's model and the Kindness developmental paradigm. A Randomized Controlled Trial will be conducted with approximately 100 educators from public and private institutions, randomly allocated to an intervention or waitlist control group. RAISE is delivered online over three weeks, combining asynchronous videos and synchronous group sessions across three modules. Assessments at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and follow-up will use multi-informant measures, including the DASS-21, SDQ, and SERT. Data will be analyzed through mixed ANOVA models following intention-to-treat principles. Findings are expected to inform the feasibility and cultural relevance of integrated, prevention-oriented socioemotional programs and to contribute to early childhood mental health promotion in Portugal.
Detailed description
Child mental health has become one of the most pressing public health concerns worldwide. It is estimated that between 13% and 20% of children and adolescents present some form of mental disorder, such as anxiety or depression, and approximately half of adult mental disorders begin before the age of 18 . These figures underscore the importance of promoting psychological well-being from early childhood and of identifying domains that play a protective role for mental health. Among these, socioemotional development has been described as the foundation of mental health, integrating emotional and social competencies that are fundamental for recognizing and self-regulating emotions, constructing identity, establishing positive interpersonal relationships, supporting learning, and making responsible decisions .
Among the theoretical models seeking to explain the development of these competencies, Malti's framework organizes socioemotional development around three components - the 3 E's: Emotion Regulation, Self-Empathy, and Empathy for Others. Emotion regulation, the first of these components, refers to the human capacity to control the occurrence, intensity, and expression of internal states in order to achieve goals and develop morally appropriate behaviors , involving both adaptive strategies (e.g., cognitive reappraisal) and maladaptive strategies (e.g., rumination, suppression) . Emotion regulation develops across the lifespan, initially supported by processes of hetero- and co-regulation with attachment figures and progressively internalized into self-regulatory skills, particularly between the ages of 3 and 4. Empathy, in turn, constitutes a central indicator of socioemotional development and unfolds across three dimensions - affective, cognitive, and behavioral - whose emergence begins in the first months of life and becomes progressively more complex throughout childhood .
Although primary caregivers play a central role in the development of these competencies , as children gain autonomy and enter preschool education, their relational world expands beyond the family context . From this ecological perspective, educators and teachers emerge as authentic agents with a decisive role in promoting children's socioemotional competencies . At the same time, the socioemotional competencies of these professionals themselves shape classroom climate and children's development . Yet the complexity of the profession and continuous exposure to emotional demands make educators and teachers particularly vulnerable to burnout and exhaustion - the so-called "burnout cascade" with direct implications for their well-being and for the quality of their interactions with children .
Considered jointly, these lines of evidence converge on the need for socioemotional learning programs that adopt an integrated approach - one that fosters children's development while simultaneously supporting the socioemotional competencies and well-being of caregivers and educators, and that addresses protective and risk factors for mental health. It is within this framework that the RAISE program (Research and Practice Partnership: Building Awareness and Increasing Social-Emotional Capacity in the Early Years) emerges, developed at the Centre for Child Development, Mental Health, and Policy (Canada), and grounded in Malti's E's model and in the developmental paradigm of Kindness . The program targets caregivers and education professionals working with children aged 3 to 8 and is organized into three modules - socioemotional development, early relationships (the 3 C's: connection, caring, and coaching), and developmental indicators such as well-being and stress - articulating three core pillars: knowledge, practice, and routine .
In Portugal, the scarcity of structured programs aimed at promoting socioemotional competencies among education professionals makes the cultural adaptation and evaluation of RAISE particularly relevant. The present study therefore aims to evaluate the adaptation, implementation, and effectiveness of the program in the Portuguese context, examining its impact on (i) professionals' knowledge and practices, (ii) professionals' mental health, (iii) children's socioemotional competencies, and (iv) children's mental health, as well as (v) the associations between these variables. It is hypothesized that professionals and children allocated to the intervention group will show significantly greater improvements in these indicators over time compared to those in the control group.
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Prevention
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Triple blind (participant, investigator, outcomes assessor)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| Intervention with Raise | Active comparator | Behavioral: raiseIntervention |
| Control Group | No intervention | –No Intervention |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 24 to 65 years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- Accepted
- Age groups
- Adult, Older adult
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- being actively employed as an educator or teacher working with children aged 3 to 8 years;
- being fluent in Portuguese;
- having access to an internet-enabled electronic device (e.g., a smartphone, tablet, or computer) to participate in the online training;
- being available to participate in all phases of the study, including the online training sessions, follow-up assessments, and questionnaire completion;
- providing informed consent to participate in the training, follow-up sessions, and questionnaire completion.
Key exclusion criteria (0 listed)
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 |
|---|---|---|
| raiseThe RAISE training is delivered over three weeks and comprises three modules. Each module includes an asynchronous session (three self-paced 15-minute videos on definitions, developmental examples, and home strategies) followed by a 90-minute synchronous group session focused on practice, mindfulness, discussion, and interactive activities. The modules cover, respectively, the 3 E's of social-emotional development (emotion regulation, self-empathy, and empathy toward others), the 3 C's of early relationships (connection, caring, and coaching), and developmental indicators such as well-being, resilience, and stress, with educators receiving additional content on assessment tools. Follow-up sessions are held one week and two months after completion, and participants retain unlimited online access to all materials (Speidel et al., 2021, 2023, 2024). | Behavioural | Intervention with Raise |
Primary outcome
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997)
Time frame: Baseline, up to five weeks, up to 13 weeks
The SDQ (Goodman, 1997; Portuguese version: Fleitlich, Loureiro, Fonseca, \& Gaspar, 2005) assesses children's strengths and difficulties across five domains: (1) emotional symptoms, (2) conduct problems, (3) hyperactivity/inattention, (4) peer problems, and (5) prosocial behavior. The scale has 25 items rated on a 3-point scale (0 = not true, 1 = somewhat true, 2 = certainly true). Children's competencies (strengths) are assessed through the prosocial behavior domain, whereas the total difficulties score is derived from the remaining four domains.
Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale - 21 (DASS-21)
Time frame: Baseline, up to five weeks, up to 13 weeks
The DASS-21 (Lovibond \& Lovibond, 1995; Portuguese version: Pais-Ribeiro, Honrado, \& Leal, 2004) is a self-report scale designed to assess the emotional states of depression, anxiety, and stress. It comprises 21 items, each rated on a 4-point scale (0 = did not apply to me at all to 3 = applied to me very much, or most of the time). The scale comprises three subscales: (1) depression (7 items), assessing symptoms such as inertia, dysphoria, lack of interest or involvement, anhedonia, self-deprecation, discouragement, and devaluation of life; (2) anxiety (7 items), assessing autonomic arousal, subjective experiences of anxiety, musculoskeletal effects, and situational anxiety; and (3) stress (7 items), assessing difficulty relaxing, ease of being upset or agitated, nervous arousal, irritability, exaggerated reactions, and impatience.
Social-Emotional Responding Task (SERT; Malti, 2017)
Time frame: Baseline, up to five weeks, up to 13 weeks
The SERT (Malti, 2017) is an instrument for assessing social-emotional development in children aged 4 to 8 years across four domains: (1) emotion regulation, (2) healthy guilt, (3) self-sympathy, and (4) sympathy for others (Malti, 2017; Malti et al., 2021). The 29-item questionnaire uses a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree) and asks caregivers and educators/teachers to rate the child's behavior based on interactions with others and reactions to specific scenarios (e.g., "My child feels bad for other children who are sad").
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 12 Aug 2026.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No. Intellectual Property Data (IPD) might not be shared due to concerns about confidentiality and legal restrictions. Sharing it could risk exposing proprietary or sensitive information, including details that may affect entire family's privacy.
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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.
Manuela Verissimo, PhD principal investigator
ISPA - Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Psicologicas, Sociais e da Vida
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing raise in people with Empathy Education, run by ISPA - Instituto Universitario de Ciencias Psicologicas, Sociais e da Vida.
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 5 inclusion and 0 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: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 12 Aug 2026. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
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?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact João Silva, PhD Student (35121881700 ext. 35121881700, joao.silva@ispa.pt), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ; Goodman, 1997) (time frame: Baseline, up to five weeks, up to 13 weeks). 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 12 Aug 2026.