Becoming Responsible Teens: Promoting the health of adolescents in foster care

Background: As a result of traumatic early histories, female adolescents in foster care are at great risk for contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Becoming a Responsible T...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association 2002-06, Vol.8 (3), p.92-98
Main Authors: McGuinness, Teena M., Mason, Marian, Tolbert, Grace, DeFontaine, Cheryl
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Human immunodeficiency virus
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Summary:Background: As a result of traumatic early histories, female adolescents in foster care are at great risk for contracting human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexually transmitted diseases. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the Becoming a Responsible Teen (BART) curriculum on adolescents' condom awareness and HIV risk knowledge. BART is an 8-week group intervention that combines education and behavior skills training with content on topics such as sexual assertion, refusal, problem solving, and risk recognition. Design: Adolescents living in residential foster care participated in the BART intervention. The study used a pretest/posttest design with one group. Findings: Preintervention and postintervention measures of outcomes of condom awareness and HIV risk knowledge improved significantly after the BART group intervention. Conclusion: Adolescent females in foster care have experienced multiple early adversities and are a high-risk group for sexually transmitted diseases. BART increased the adolescents knowledge related to condom use and HIV risk and encouraged participants to spread the word to other adolescents. (J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc [2002]. 8, 92-98.)
ISSN:1078-3903
1532-5725
DOI:10.1067/mpn.2002.125162