Preventing Problems for Girls in Foster Care
Overview
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Intervention
- Not specified
- Conditions
- Juvenile Justice Involvement
- Sponsor
- Oregon Social Learning Center
- Enrollment
- 100
- Locations
- 1
- Primary Endpoint
- Delinquency
- Status
- Completed
- Last Updated
- 4 years ago
Overview
Brief Summary
This study will determine the efficacy of a parent-involved intervention in preventing problem behavior in middle school girls who are currently in foster care.
Detailed Description
The transition from elementary school to middle school presents a complex set of challenges for adolescents. These include increased expectations for time management and self-monitoring, renegotiation of rules and boundaries with parents, increased peer influence, and pubertal changes. For children in foster care, this transition is further complicated by issues such as a possible history of maltreatment, unpredictable changes in their living situations, and difficulty explaining their foster care background to peers and teachers. Such issues may be more serious for girls in foster care. Social problems for these girls in middle school can lead to a number of negative effects, including delinquency, substance abuse, poor school performance, mental health problems, and participation in risky sexual behavior. Despite such risks, adolescent girls are less likely to receive specialty mental health or school-based services than their male counterparts. This study is aimed at determining the effectiveness of a preventive intervention for preadolescent girls living in foster/kinship care. The intervention targets include preventing delinquency, initiation of substance use, participation in risky sexual behavior, school truancy and failure, and mental health problems. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the preventive intervention or usual foster care services in the summer before entering middle school (typically sixth grade). The preventive intervention consisted of weekly training and support sessions for both participants and their foster or kin parents. The sessions began at study start and continued throughout participants' first year in middle school. Participants' relationship development, delinquency, school behavior and performance, sexual behavior, and substance use were assessed through questionnaires. Parenting practices were assessed through interviews. Assessments were conducted at study entry and at Months 6, 12, and 24, and 36. A new, follow-up assessment on the girls' decision making was conducted at age 14-16.
Investigators
Leslie D. Leve
Senior Fellow
Oregon Social Learning Center
Eligibility Criteria
Inclusion Criteria
- •Living in a foster home or receiving kinship care
- •Are about to enter middle school
- •Oregon resident
- •Guardian willing to provide informed consent
Exclusion Criteria
- •not in foster care
- •not living in Oregon
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
Delinquency
Time Frame: Measured at Month 36
36 items from the general delinquency scale from the Self-Report Delinquency Scale (SRD; Elliott, Huizinga, \& Ageton, 1985). Units on a scale. Girls were asked to rate how many times they had committed various delinquent acts (e.g., damaging or destroying properties, and stealing) in the past year, using an open-ended format. The mean of frequencies across these items was used to represent the level of delinquency for girls. The general delinquency scale scores ranged from 0 to 24 (full scale) and from 0 to 13 (log transformed). Higher scores indicate higher levels of delinquency.
Tobacco Use
Time Frame: Measured at Month 36
The girls were asked how many times in the past year they had smoked cigarettes or chewed tobacco. The response scale ranged from 1 (never) through 9 (daily). Units on a scale.
Marijuana Use
Time Frame: Measured at Month 36
The girls were asked how many times in the past year they had used marijuana. The response scale ranged from 1 (never) through 9 (daily). Units on a scale. Log transformed.
Secondary Outcomes
- Mental Health Problems(Measured at Months 12 and 24)
- Participation in Risky Sexual Behaviors(Measured at Month 36)
- Social Competence(Measured at Months 6, 12)
- Placement Changes(Measured at Months 6 and 12)
- Decision Making(Measured at age 15-17)