Effectiveness of a mobile app intervention to prevent dating violence in residential child care

• Published in: Intervención psicosocial Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 59 - 66
• Main Authors: Navarro-Péreza, José J, Oliver, Amparo, Carbonell, Ángela, Schneider, Barry H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Madrid Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid 2020; Revista de Psicología del Trabajo y de las Organizaciones; Colegio Oficial de la Psicología de Madrid; Colegio Oficial de Psicólogos de Madrid
• Subjects: adolescence; Adolescencia; Adolescents; Ambivalence; Attitudes; Centros de acogida; Child abuse & neglect; Child care; Children; Children & youth; Dating; dating violence; Design; Domestic violence; European cultural groups; Females; Gender; Group homes; Institutionalization; Intervención; Intervention; Intimate partner violence; Love; Measures; Men; Multivariate analysis; Mythology; Prejudice; Prevention; Psychology; Psychology, Social; Quasi-experimental methods; residential child care; Sexism; Sexismo; Stereotypes; Teenagers; Variance analysis; Violence; Violencia de pareja; Youth; Spain; Adolescencia; Dating violence; Intervention; Adolescence; Sexism; Residential child care; Sexismo; Intervención; Centros de acogida; Violencia de pareja
• ISSN: 1132-0559; 2173-4712; 1132-0559; 2173-4712
• DOI: 10.5093/pi2020a3

This study focuses on the effectiveness of an app-based, monitored intervention using the Liad@s app in a residential youth-care setting. The aim of this intervention is to reduce maladaptive beliefs and attitudes linked to dating violence: distortions or myths about romantic love and hostile and benevolent dimensions of sexism. A quasi-experimental pre- post study with a control group was carried out. Participants were 71 adolescents from 9 group homes in Valencia (Spain). The outcomes measures were hostile and benevolent sexism (Ambivalent Sexism Inventory - ASI), ambivalence and prejudice towards men (Ambivalence toward Men Inventory - AMI), and myths about romantic love. The results of the intervention were assessed using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). A post-intervention, statistically significant reduction with a medium-large effect size was observed in all dimensions for the treatment group, with eta- square of .25 for the sexism dimensions, .38 for myths, and .21 for ambivalence and prejudices. The experimental group demonstrated significantly more change than the control group on all measures. The benefits of the intervention did not vary by participants sex. These results may be helpful to professionals involved in child and youth care, who can profit from adolescents proclivity toward online communication.