Intervention Effects on Health-Risking Sexual Behavior Among Girls in Foster Care: The Role of Placement Disruption and Tobacco and Marijuana Use

Abstract

The present study examined the effects of the Middle School Success (MSS) intervention, a program to promote healthy adjustment in foster girls, on their health-risking sexual behavior, using a randomized controlled trial (RCT) design. As hypothesized, girls in the intervention condition (N = 48) showed significantly lower levels of health-risking sexual behavior than did girls in the control condition (N = 52) at 36 months post-baseline. Further path analysis indicated that this intervention effect was fully mediated through its effects on girls' tobacco and marijuana use. Findings highlight the importance of providing preventive intervention services to foster girls during early adolescence.

KEYWORDS:

• adolescent
• foster care
• girls
• health-risking sexual behavior
• intervention
• tobacco and marijuana use

Acknowledgments

This research was supported by the following grants: MH054257, NIMH, U.S. PHS, and DA023920, DA024672, and DA027091, NIDA, U.S. PHS. The authors thank Courtenay Padgett, Priscilla Havlis, and Danielle Guerrero for project coordination; Michelle Baumann and Diana Strand for editorial assistance; and the children and families who participated in the project.

Notes

Note. *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001.