The efficacy of an intimate partner violence prevention program with high-risk adolescent girls: a preliminary test

Prev Sci. 2012 Aug;13(4):384-94. doi: 10.1007/s11121-011-0240-7.

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.

Publication types

  • Randomized Controlled Trial
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological
  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior
  • Aggression / psychology
  • Black or African American
  • Conflict, Psychological
  • Crime Victims
  • Domestic Violence / prevention & control*
  • Domestic Violence / psychology
  • Family Characteristics*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Pilot Projects
  • Program Evaluation*
  • Psychometrics
  • Risk Assessment / methods*
  • Stress, Psychological
  • Time Factors
  • United States
  • Women's Health*
  • Young Adult