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ERIC Number: EJ929188
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-Jun
Pages: 8
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0145-2134
EISSN: N/A
Impact of a Universal School-Based Violence Prevention Program on Violent Delinquency: Distinctive Benefits for Youth with Maltreatment Histories
Crooks, Claire V.; Scott, Katreena; Ellis, Wendy; Wolfe, David A.
Child Abuse & Neglect: The International Journal, v35 n6 p393-400 Jun 2011
Objective: Child maltreatment constitutes a strong risk factor for violent delinquency in adolescence, with cumulative experiences of maltreatment creating increasingly greater risk. Our previous work demonstrated that a universal school-based violence prevention program could provide a protective impact for youth at risk for violent delinquency due to child maltreatment history. In this study we conducted a follow-up to determine if participation in a school-based violence prevention program in grade 9 continued to provide a buffering effect on engaging in acts of violent delinquency for maltreated youth, 2 years post-intervention. Methods: Secondary analyses were conducted using data from a cluster randomized controlled trial of a comprehensive school-based violence prevention program. Students (N = 1,722; 52.8% female) from 20 schools participated in 21 75-min lessons in grade 9 health classes. Individual data (i.e., gender, child maltreatment experiences, and violent delinquency in grade 9) and school-level data (i.e., student perception of safety averaged across students in each school) were entered in a multilevel model to predict violent delinquency at the end of grade 11. Results: Individual- and school-level factors predicting violent delinquency in grade 11 replicated previous findings from grade 9: being male, experiencing child maltreatment, being violent in grade 9, and attending a school with a lower perceived sense of safety among the entire student body increased violent delinquency. The cross-level interaction of individual maltreatment history and school-level intervention was also replicated: in non-intervention schools, youth with more maltreatment in their background were increasingly likely to engage in violent delinquency. The strength of this relationship was significantly attenuated in intervention schools. Conclusions: Follow-up findings are consistent with the buffering effect of the prevention program previously found post-intervention for the subsample of youth with maltreatment histories. Practice implications: A relative inexpensive school-based violence prevention program that has been shown to reduce dating violence among the whole student body also creates a protective effect for maltreated youth with respect to lowering their likelihood of engaging in violent delinquency. (Contains 1 table and 1 figure.)
Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126; Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: usjcs@elsevier.com; Web site: http://www.elsevier.com
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Grade 11; Grade 9
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A