Hurricane Katrina Effects on Female Adolescent Offenders

描述(申请人提供)：这项研究的一个目的是评估最近的一次自然灾害对女性青少年罪犯的影响，这是一个应对灾难相关压力和其他不利生活事件的负面结果可能性增加的群体。我们建议研究卡特里娜飓风对精神健康的影响和三种潜在的适应不良后果：药物滥用、犯罪/犯罪和性风险行为。我们将确定被关押在密西西比州的年轻妇女是否受到飓风的直接影响，或通过其家人和其他重要人士间接受到影响，以及受到影响的程度。我们将比较受飓风影响的受试者和未受影响的受试者的心理痛苦(焦虑、抑郁和创伤后应激)。第二个目标是使用路径分析和结构方程模型来测试偏差和健康损害行为的压力模型。通过控制灾前偏差，我们将检验应激源、心理困扰以及应对、社会支持和接受服务对灾后偏差的中介/调节作用。该项目的部分样本将从目前参加国家药物滥用研究所资助的降低性病/艾滋病毒风险干预措施(DA017509)的参与者中挑选出来。在140名积极参与研究的人中，有84人在飓风之前居住在联邦应急管理局指定的受灾县。与飓风及其后果相关的问题可能会扰乱干预效果的结果。因此，这项拟议研究的第三个目标是评估这种对有效性的威胁。我们还将招募自卡特里娜飓风以来被监禁的女性青少年罪犯，将样本规模增加到300人，以便为拟议的分析计划提供足够的力量。将从国家女孩培训学校和位于该州南部的青少年拘留设施招募潜在的受试者。有监禁史的女性青少年有很高的药物使用率、精神疾病和健康问题，包括性传播疾病。这项研究将有助于为这一人群设计预防干预措施，以同时解决多种健康问题。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): One aim of this study is to assess the impact of a recent natural disaster on female adolescent offenders, a group with increased likelihood of negative outcomes in response to disaster-related stress and other adverse life events. We propose to study the mental health effects of Hurricane Katrina and three potential maladaptive outcomes: substance abuse, delinquency/crime, and sexual risk behavior. We will determine if, and to what extent, young women incarcerated in Mississippi were directly affected by the hurricane or indirectly affected through their families and significant others. We will compare hurricane affected subjects with those not affected on measures psychological distress (anxiety, depression, and post traumatic stress). A second aim is to test a stress model of deviant and health compromising behavior using path analysis and structural equation modeling. Controlling for pre-disaster deviance, we will test the effects of stressors, psychological distress, and mediating/moderating effects of coping, social support, and reciept of services on post-disaster deviance. Part of the sample for this project will be selected from participants who are currently enrolled in a National Institute on Drug Abuse funded STD/HIV risk reduction intervention (DA017509). Of the 140 active study participants, 84 of them were residing in FEMA designated disaster counties prior to the hurricane. Problems associated with the hurricane and it's aftermath may confound results of intervention effectiveness. Thus, a third aim of the proposed research is to assess this threat to validity. We will also recruit female adolescent offenders incarcerated since Hurricane Katrina to increase the sample size to 300 to allow sufficient power for the proposed analysis plan. Potential subjects will be recruited from the state training school for girls and from juvenile detention facilities located in the southern part of the state. Female adolescents with a history of incarceration have high rates of substance use, mental illness, and health problems, including sexually transmitted diseases. This study will contribute to the design of prevention interventions for this population to address multiple health problems simultaneously.