Results from the outcome evaluation of the start strong initiative

Background: Teen dating violence is a serious public health problem. Yet, little is known about effective interventions, particularly targeting middle school youth. Purpose: This presentation will report on the evaluation results of Start Strong: Building Healthy Teen Relationships (Start Strong), a community-based initiative targeting promotion of healthy relationships to prevent teen dating violence (TDV) among 11-to 14-year-olds. . Significance: The results will add to the limited knowledge base on effective programming targeting prevention of TDV. Method: The quasi-experimental evaluation focused on three sites implementing the same curriculum (Safe Dates) with 7th graders, and other program components: social marketing, parent activities, and policy efforts. Comparison schools were selected that had similar demographics. This sample included 1,517 7th graders (49.7% female; 23.0% White, 28.2% African American, 32.6% Latino, 16.2% multiple/other). Student survey data were collected at four time points in grades 7 and 8. Results: Short-term impacts included reduced TDV acceptance and harmful gender stereotypes, and increased parent-child communication and positive dating relationships. Long-term effects include reduced TDV acceptance and harmful gender stereotypes. Results from moderation analyses indicated that students at greater risk showed improvements on outcomes where effects were not seen in the overall sample; this pattern persisted through wave 4. Conclusions: Results are encouraging and demonstrate the short- and long-term effectiveness of Start Strong. Findings from moderation analyses are noteworthy, given that high risk students account for a disproportionate amount of violence. The findings suggest that a multi-component, community-based initiative shows promise in reducing TDV among middle school students.