Open AccessA tailored cognitive behavioral program for juvenile justice-referred females at risk of substance use and delinquency: A pilot quasi-experimental trial
Author(s) -
Sarah Cusworth Walker,
Mylien T. Duong,
Chris Hayes,
Lucy Berliner,
Leslie D. Leve,
David C. Atkins,
Jerald R. Herting,
Asia S. Bishop,
Esteban Valencia
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0224363
Subject(s) - juvenile delinquency , juvenile , intervention (counseling) , clinical psychology , cognition , aggression , psychology , randomized controlled trial , medicine , psychiatry , genetics , surgery , biology
This pilot quasi-experimental trial tested a gender-responsive cognitive behavioral group intervention with 87 court-involved female adolescents (5 juvenile courts) who were at indicated risk for substance use disorder. Participants in the intervention ( n = 57) received twice weekly group sessions for 10 weeks (20 sessions) focused on building emotional, thought and behavior regulation skills and generalizing these skills to relationally-based scenarios (GOAL: Girls Only Active Learning). Youth in the control condition ( n = 30) received services as usual, which included non-gender-specific aggression management training, individual counseling and no services. The GOAL program was found to be acceptable to youth and parents and feasible to implement within a juvenile court setting using skilled facilitators. Compared to services as usual, the program significantly and meaningfully reduced self-reported delinquent behavior (β = 0.84, p < 0.05) over 6 months, and exhibited trend level effects for reduced substance use (β = 0.40, p = 0.07). The program had mixed or no effects on family conflict and emotion regulation skills. These findings are discussed in light of treatment mechanisms and gender-responsive services.