Health interventions with girls in the juvenile justice system.
OBJECTIVE
Girls today make up 25% of youth in the juvenile justice system (JJS). To address the interrelated sexual and dating violence risk behaviors of this population, we compared the relative impact of a 6-hour, peer-led group intervention, Girl Talk-2, whose goal was to decrease sexual and dating violence risk behaviors, with the impact of a comparison group in which the same information was presented in a standard lecture and video format.


METHODS
A cyclic cohort study with alternating intervention and comparison programs were implemented with 539 girls at 6 sites of a county JJS. Data were collected on relevant knowledge, attitudes and practices pre-intervention, immediately postintervention, and 6 months postintervention.


RESULTS
Although all participants had high rates of risky behaviors, knowledge and attitudes about sexual protective behaviors were worse as girls' level of involvement in the JJS increased. At 6 month follow-up, the Girl Talk-2 intervention group had significantly higher use of condoms and communication skills to defuse potentially violent situations than girls in the comparison group. Both groups had improvement in knowledge and attitudes over time, and the intervention group reported higher use of newly acquired communication skills.


CONCLUSIONS
The Girl Talk-2 intervention showed significant changes in 2 out of 3 key protective behaviors for participants when compared with a comparison group. Effective behavioral interventions are essential to assist girls in the JJS safeguard their future health.
Kelly
Patricia J
PJ
University of Missouri-Kansas City, Kansas City, MO 64197-2639, USA. kellypj@umkc.edu
Owen
Steven V
SV
Peralez-Dieckmann
Esther
E
Martinez
Elisabeth
E
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D006266:Health Education / Q000379:methods*; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D011329:Prisoners / Q000523:psychology*; D012742:Sex Offenses / Q000517:prevention & control; D012749:Sexually Transmitted Diseases / Q000517:prevention & control; D014481:United States