title: The efficacy of an intimate partner violence prevention program with high-risk adolescent girls: a preliminary test.
abstract: This study examined the efficacy of a brief (four session) intimate partner violence (IPV) prevention program (Building a Lasting Love, Langhinrichsen-Rohling et al. 2005) that was designed to reduce the relationship violence of predominantly African American inner-city adolescent girls (n = 72) who were receiving teen pregnancy services. These high-risk girls were randomly assigned to the prevention program (n = 39) or waitlist control (n = 33) conditions. Implementation fidelity was documented. As predicted, girls who successfully completed the program (n = 24) reported significant reductions in their perpetration of psychological abuse toward their baby's father as compared to the control (n = 23) participants. They also reported experiencing significantly less severe IPV victimization over the course of the program. Preliminary analyses indicated that avoidant attachment to one's partner may be associated with less program-related change. These findings support the contention that brief IPV prevention programs can be targeted to selected groups of high-risk adolescents.
authors.affiliation: University of South Alabama, Mobile, AL, USA. jlr@usouthal.edu
authors.forename: Jennifer
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Langhinrichsen-Rohling
authors.forename: Lisa A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Turner
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001741:Black or African American; D000374:Aggression / Q000523:psychology; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D019548:Crime Victims; D017579:Domestic Violence / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D005191:Family Characteristics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011594:Psychometrics; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult