The current study extends an uncontrolled pilot study of Life Improvement for Teens (LIFT; Jaycox et al., 2019), an online stress and trauma program, to examine its pre-post effectiveness (depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, coping, negative cognitions) via a waitlist randomized control design and intent-to-treat sample (N = 47) of 18–19-year-old racial or ethnic minority (REM) young people entering college, delivered fully self-administered. Students were randomly assigned to the treatment condition (N = 24) or waitlist control condition (N = 23). LIFT was provided over 4-7 weeks to the treatment group with external weekly reminders. Feasibility analyses found low retention (6 out of 24; 25%), moderate adherence for those who began LIFT (6 of 11 met minimum criteria indicative of program completion; 55%), and varied engagement patterns (e.g., 5 out of 11 participants who began LIFT did not meet minimum criteria for engagement; 45%) with LIFT. In sum, many participants did not engage with LIFT content as intended. Effectiveness findings, while accounting for missing data utilizing multiple imputations (N = 40 imputations), indicated positively trending but insignificant improvements in anxiety and depression in comparison to the control condition. Contrary to hypotheses based on prior literature, no improvements were found for PTSS or any mechanisms of action (negative cognitions, coping skills). Global acceptability of LIFT was reported as moderate-to-high, with more mixed/neutral qualitative reports of acceptability. Cultural acceptability findings were inconclusive due to the small interview sample size, but promising strengths and areas for improvement were highlighted in relation to cultural acceptability of LIFT. This study contributes to the literature on effective and accessible mental health programs for REM young people impacted by traumatic stress.
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