Intervention Development and Pilot for Foster Care Youth

Study Results

Results pending

The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.

Basic Information

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Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

NA

Total Enrollment

152 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2002-08-31

Study Completion Date

2017-03-23

Brief Summary

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The purpose of this study is to develop, standardize and provide a preliminary test of a novel intervention for preadolescent maltreated youth in out-of-home care. It is hypothesized that the preventive intervention, which is known as Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) and which consists of therapeutic skills groups and mentoring, will improve mental health, social, academic and behavioral functioning and reduce youths' initiation of, and participation in, problem behaviors.

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Detailed Description

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This R21 application for a 3-year exploratory/development grant for intervention research is designed to develop, standardize and provide a preliminary test of a novel intervention for children, ages 9-11, placed in out-of-home care. Children and adolescents with a history of maltreatment and subsequent placement in foster care are at risk for substantial mental health and behavioral problems of great public health significance. In the prior longitudinal work with children in foster care, the investigators have described the population, examined child welfare system impact, and identified modifiable psychosocial risk and protective factors. These pre-intervention activities, supported by the principal investigator's K01 award, have enabled the investigator to address important methodological issues that have hampered the development of intervention efforts targeting this high-risk population.

Based on this pre-intervention research, feedback from focus group participants, and a review of other efficacious programs for high-risk youth, the investigators propose to design an intervention for preadolescent youth in foster care consisting of three primary components: assessment and advocacy, mentoring, and therapeutic skills groups. The proposed R21 activities include developing the assessment battery and intervention protocol, manualizing the treatment, estimating recruitment and attrition rates, and conducting a small-scale randomized-controlled pilot study of the intervention. The goals of the intervention will be to improve mental health, social, academic and behavioral functioning and to reduce youths' initiation of, and participation in, problem behaviors. The investigators will conduct a preliminary examination of whether these proximal outcomes are moderated by baseline characteristics and/or mediated by the process variables targeted by the intervention. Estimates of effect size will be used to determine the sample size needed for adequate power to conduct a full-scale randomized controlled trial. The pilot study will also focus on issues of feasibility, program uptake, and replicability, and the investigators will modify the assessment battery, protocol, and manuals following the pilot phase and prior to the application for an R01 to conduct a large-scale efficacy trial.

Conditions

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Child Abuse

Study Design

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Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

SINGLE_GROUP

Primary Study Purpose

PREVENTION

Blinding Strategy

SINGLE

Outcome Assessors

Study Groups

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Assessment only

Cognitive, academic achievement and mental health screening assessment and report.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

Assessment

Intervention Type OTHER

Cognitive, academic achievement, and mental health screening assessment and report.

Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF) Assessment + FHF

Cognitive, academic achievement and mental health screening assessment and report. Weekly therapeutic skill groups and mentoring over a 9-month period.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

Assessment

Intervention Type OTHER

Cognitive, academic achievement, and mental health screening assessment and report.

Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF)

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Weekly therapeutic skill groups and mentoring over a 9-month period.

Interventions

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Assessment

Cognitive, academic achievement, and mental health screening assessment and report.

Intervention Type OTHER

Fostering Healthy Futures (FHF)

Weekly therapeutic skill groups and mentoring over a 9-month period.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

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Inclusion Criteria

All of the 9-11-year-old children court-ordered into out-of-home care (as a result of maltreatment) over the prior year in participating counties, including:

1. Youth placed in group homes, foster homes, and with kin
2. Youth with significant behavior problems
3. Youth who meet criteria for mental health diagnoses or dual diagnosis
4. Youth with mild cognitive impairment

Exclusion Criteria

1. Youth who reunify before the beginning of the intervention
2. Youth with significant cognitive, behavioral, and/or mental health impairment that interfered with either with their ability to benefit from the prevention program or to participate safely
3. Youth who were not proficient enough in English to participate
4. Youth who lived too far from sites where groups were hel

When siblings were both eligible, only one sibling was randomly selected to participate in the study, and the other(s) was excluded

Minimum Eligible Age

9 Years

Maximum Eligible Age

11 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No