Dating Violence Prevention for Juvenile Justice Girls
Condition: Violence
Study type: Interventional

Summary: 
      Girls in the juvenile justice system are at high risk for dating violence exposure as well as
      co-occurring problems with delinquency and sexual risk taking. Despite the multitude of
      negative outcomes associated with dating violence, no evidence-based preventive interventions
      exist for juvenile justice girls. This study will advance scientific knowledge by testing the
      efficacy of a promising, skills-based intervention (Date SMART) on reducing dating violence,
      delinquency and sexual risk outcomes for a broad range of court-involved, non-incarcerated
      girls.
    

Detailed description: 
      Research is urgently needed to rigorously test a skills-based intervention for dating
      violence prevention among juvenile justice girls. Court-involved, non-incarcerated (CINI)
      girls represent a particularly high-risk group for dating violence exposure. This is due to
      the multiple risk factors they possess that have demonstrated associations with teen dating
      violence outcomes in other high-risk adolescent female populations. Despite the critical need
      for these young women to learn strategies that offset their heightened risk for involvement
      in coercive romantic relationships, no such evidence-based interventions exist for this
      population. The goal of the current study is to establish the efficacy of Date SMART
      (K23MH086328), a theoretically-driven skills-based intervention, in reducing dating violence,
      sexual risk behavior, and delinquency among girls in the juvenile justice system. Pilot data
      reveal that girls randomized to the Date SMART intervention spend significantly fewer days in
      violent relationships compared to girls randomized to the comparison condition. They also
      show improvements in condom use at last sex and reductions in delinquency. Moreover, the risk
      profile of adolescent girls who participated in the pilot trial is remarkably similar to the
      profile of adolescent girls involved in the juvenile justice system. Thus, Date SMART is
      uniquely suited for CINI girls. Despite the promise of Date SMART, the time lag from pilot
      testing to efficacy testing and final dissemination activities is protracted, as researchers
      fail to consider questions of effectiveness early on. Hybrid designs that retain core
      components of efficacy trials (randomization, controlled conditions) and essential elements
      of effectiveness research (e.g., participant diversity; standardized training procedures,
      attention to cost) can reduce time to implementation in the "real world." As such,
      investigators plan to test the efficacy of Date SMART on dating violence, sexual risk, and
      delinquency among 250 court-involved, non-incarcerated girls. Investigators will also gather
      effectiveness data from key stakeholders to determine how best to implement the program,
      train staff, and predict the cost of the program within the juvenile court. CINI girls, ages
      14-17 (N= 12 juveniles for Phase I Intervention Run-Through; N=250 for Phase II Randomized
      Control Trial [RCT] study) will be recruited from the Rhode Island Family Court and Probation
      Departments and randomized to either the Date SMART (active) intervention (n=125) or a Health
      Promotion (control) condition (n=125). In Phase I (12 juveniles will be recruited to complete
      the Intervention Run-Through and research assessment once to allow testing of RCT
      intervention and assessment procedures prior to the RCT phase. In Phase II, 250 juveniles
      will be recruited and randomized at baseline and then re-assessed at 3, 6, 9 and 12 month
      post-intervention follow-ups.
    

Intervention name(s): Date SMART; Health Promotion
Intervention type(s): Behavioral; Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Skills-based, group prevention program targeting emotion regulation and interpersonal skills using a cognitive-behavioral framework.; Psycho-educational group prevention program targeting knowledge and skills only
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)
Primary purpose: Prevention
Keywords: Intimate Partner Violence; Juvenile Delinquency; Sexual Behavior