Preventing Behavior and Health Problems in Foster Teens

NCT ID: NCT01549561

Last Updated: 2014-04-08

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 259 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2006-11-30
• Study Completion Date: 2013-10-31

Brief Summary

The primary goal of this study is to test the efficacy of two levels of the KEEP intervention with adolescents and their foster and kin parents in the San Diego Child Welfare System.

Detailed Description

The cost of child welfare services in the U.S. has been estimated at $20 billion per year. During the past decade, the number of teenagers in foster care has nearly doubled. Numerous studies have documented that these adolescents are at high-risk for developing serious problems, including substance use, participation in health-risking sexual behaviors, involvement in the juvenile justice system, serious educational problems and school drop-out, failed placements/foster care "drift" and homelessness. Yet, there is little research on the characteristics of interventions that can be used to guide the improvement of services for this vulnerable population of youngsters. The proposed study extends our previous research with adolescents referred for serious behavioral and emotional problems and research with elementary-aged children in foster care to a test of the efficacy of a preventive intervention for adolescents placed with foster and kin care providers in the San Diego County Child Welfare System. Two hundred and forty adolescents and their foster/kin care providers will participate (i.e., 60 in a foster/kin parent training only condition, 60 in a parent training plus youth skill training condition, and 120 in a casework "as usual" control condition). In addition to testing the efficacy of the two levels of intervention, the investigators propose to examine the effects of the intervention on a set of youth behavioral and health-related outcomes. Parenting mediators to be tested include positive parenting, parental supervision, and non-harsh discipline. Youth mediators are social competence, commitment to school, and knowledge about norms related to health-risking behaviors including substance use and high-risk sexual behavior. In addition, theoretical hypotheses about the effects of early risk/adversity factors to youth outcomes will be examined, and an economic analysis will be conducted to examine the relative benefits and costs associated with the two levels of intervention.

Conditions

Parent Management Training

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: DOUBLE

Study Groups

Services As Usual

Foster care services as usual

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Parent and Youth Training

16 Weeks of Parent Training in group context with 5 to 10 relative and non-relative foster caregivers; Youth training with skills coaches

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Parent Training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

16 weeks of parent training led by a trained group facilitator

Youth Skills Training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

16 weeks of one-on-one sessions with a trained youth skills coach

Parent Training

16 weeks of parent training with 5 to 10 relative and non-relative foster caregivers

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Parent Training

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

16 weeks of parent training led by a trained group facilitator

Interventions

Parent Training

16 weeks of parent training led by a trained group facilitator

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Youth Skills Training

16 weeks of one-on-one sessions with a trained youth skills coach

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Parent Management Training; KEEP; Skills Coaching

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• Any child between ages 12 and 16 years in relative or non-relative foster care

Exclusion Criteria

• Only medically fragile children

• Minimum Eligible Age: 12 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 16 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Oregon Social Learning Center

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Patricia Chamberlain, PhD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Oregon Social Learning Center

Locations

Child and Adolescent Services Research Center

San Diego, California, United States

Oregon Social Learning Center

Eugene, Oregon, United States

Countries

United States

References

Price, J., Chamberlain, P., Landsverk, J., & Reid, J. B. (2010). KEEP foster parent training intervention: Model description and effectiveness. Child and Family Social Work, 14, 233-242.

Reference Type: BACKGROUND

Other Identifiers

R01DA020172

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

KEEP2020172

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id