Hurricane Katrina Effects on Female Adolescent Offenders

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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.