Date SMART's Impact on Aggression in System Involved Girls: Does Victimization Moderate Effects?

Area of Science:

• Psychology
• Criminology
• Public Health

Background:

• Aggression and victimization negatively impact justice-involved girls.
• Existing interventions often focus on single violence types, neglecting shared risk factors.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the Date SMART intervention's effect on general physical and verbal aggression in justice-involved girls.
• To examine if victimization history moderates the intervention's impact compared to a control group.

Main Methods:

• Longitudinal study with 239 justice-involved girls (mean age 15.57).
• Used hierarchical linear mixed-effects models to analyze aggression changes from baseline to 9-month follow-up.
• Compared the Date SMART intervention group with a Knowledge Only (KO) control group.

Main Results:

• Verbal and physical aggression initially increased post-intervention in the Date SMART group but decreased significantly over follow-up periods compared to KO.
• Victimization history (including sexual abuse) moderated treatment effects in both groups.
• The Date SMART intervention showed potential for reducing multiple forms of violence.

Conclusions:

• Date SMART may reduce general aggression in justice-involved girls, but initial increases warrant attention.
• Tailoring interventions for peer relationships and considering trauma histories may enhance effectiveness.
• Interventions addressing shared risk factors can impact diverse forms of violence.