Testing two approaches to revictimization prevention among adolescent girls in the child welfare system

Abstract

Purpose: Girls in the child welfare system are at high risk of revictimization in adolescence. The present study compared two interventions designed to decrease revictimization in a diverse sample of adolescent child welfare-involved girls. The social learning/feminist (SL/F) intervention focused on concepts derived from social learning and feminist models of risk, such as sexism and beliefs about relationships. The risk detection/executive function (RD/EF) intervention focused on development of specific executive function abilities related to detecting and responding to risky situations/people.

Methods: Participants were randomized to RD/EF (n = 67) or SL/F intervention (n = 67). A group of youth (n = 42) engaged in the research assessments only. Participants (n = 180) were assessed before intervention, immediately after intervention, 2 months after intervention, and 6 months after intervention. We examined revictimization (the presence/absence of sexual or physical assault in any relationship) over time.

Results: Adolescent girls in the RD/EF condition were nearly five times less likely to report sexual revictimization compared with girls in the no-treatment group. A trend suggested that girls who participated in the SL/F intervention were 2.5 times less likely to report sexual revictimization relative to the no-treatment group. For physical revictimization, the odds of not being physically revictimized were three times greater in the SL/F condition and two times greater in the RD/EF condition compared with the no-treatment group.

Conclusions: The active interventions did not differ significantly from one another in rates of revictimization, suggesting that practitioners have at least two viable options to engage high-risk youth in revictimization prevention.

Keywords: Child welfare; Executive function; Feminist; Revictimization; Risk detection; Social learning.