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Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2010 Aug;164(8):739-46.
doi: 10.1001/archpediatrics.2010.124.

Impact of a mentoring and skills group program on mental health outcomes for maltreated children in foster care

Heather N Taussig  1 , Sara E Culhane
Affiliations
Randomized Controlled Trial

Impact of a mentoring and skills group program on mental health outcomes for maltreated children in foster care

Heather N Taussig et al. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2010 Aug.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of the Fostering Healthy Futures program in reducing mental health problems and associated problems.

Design: Randomized controlled trial.

Setting: Denver metropolitan area.

Participants: Children aged 9 to 11 years who were maltreated and placed in foster care.

Intervention: Children in the control group (n=77) received an assessment of their cognitive, educational, and mental health functioning. Children in the intervention group (n=79) received the assessment and participated in a 9-month mentoring and skills group program.

Main outcome measures: Children and caregivers were interviewed at baseline prior to randomization, immediately following the intervention, and 6 months after the intervention. Teachers were interviewed 2 times after baseline. Measures included a multi-informant index of mental health problems, youth-reported symptoms of posttraumatic stress, dissociation, and quality of life, and caregiver- and youth-reported use of mental health services and psychotropic medications.

Results: After adjusting for covariates, intent-to-treat analyses demonstrated that the treatment group had fewer mental health problems on a multi-informant factor 6 months after the intervention (mean difference, -0.51; 95% confidence interval, -0.84 to -0.19), reported fewer symptoms of dissociation 6 months after the intervention (mean difference, -3.66; 95% confidence interval, -6.58 to -0.74), and reported better quality of life immediately following the intervention (mean difference, 0.11; 95% confidence interval, 0.03 to 0.19). Fewer youths in the intervention group than in the control group had received recent mental health therapy 6 months after the intervention according to youth report (53% vs 71%, respectively; relative risk=0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.57 to 0.98).

Conclusions: A 9-month mentoring and skills group intervention for children in foster care can be implemented with fidelity and high uptake rates, resulting in improved mental health outcomes. Trial Registration clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00809315.

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Figures

Figure
Figure
CONSORT Diagram *At both follow-up timepoints, one child was mistakenly interviewed while detained (the interviewers were told by the child’s legal guardian, who provided consent, that the child was in a residential treatment facility). Because the study had not yet obtained an approved prisoner protocol through our IRB and the Office for Human Research Protections, these data were unable to be analyzed.
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References

    1. Child Maltreatment 2007. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office; 2009. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Children, Youth and Families.
    1. U.S. Census Bureau. Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2009. 128th ed. Washington, DC: 2008. http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/09statab/pop.pdf.
    1. US Department of Health & Human Services: Administration on Children, Youth and Families. The AFCARS Report Preliminary FY 2006 Estimates as of January 2008. 2009. [Accessed June 29, 2009]. http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/stats_research/afcars/tar/report14.htm.
    1. Briere J. The APSAC handbook on child maltreatment. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications; 1996. American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children.
    1. Child Welfare Information Gateway. Long-term consequences of child abuse and neglect. 2008. [Accessed April, 2008]. http://www.childwelfare.gov/pubs/factsheets/long_term_consequences.cfm.

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