Prevention Program for Problem Behaviors in Girls in Foster Care
Condition: Juvenile Justice Involvement; Drug Abuse
MeSH terms: Substance-Related Disorders
Study type: Interventional

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.
    

Intervention name(s): Middle School Success Intervention (MSS)
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): This is a 10-month, psychosocial intervention for foster parents and girls, with administration of the intervention beginning the summer before entry into middle school. The intervention consists of: (1) six summer Pride groups for the girls, (2) six summer parenting intervention sessions for the foster parents; (3) weekly foster parent training and support sessions for foster parents during the first year of middle school; and (4) weekly individual skills training for the girls during the first year of middle school.
Other intervention name(s): KEEP SAFE
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single (Outcomes Assessor)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Adolescent; Foster Care; Female