IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/cysrev/v142y2022ics019074092200281x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Supporting youth and families to prevent risky youth behavior and delinquency: An impact evaluation of a family counseling program in the Caribbean

Author

Listed:
  • Stahlberg, Stephanie G.
  • Díaz-Cayeros, Alberto
  • Pizatella-Haswell, Rachel

Abstract

This study provides the first randomized controlled trial (RCT) of a family counseling intervention in the Caribbean, and one of the few RCTs on a violence and delinquency prevention program in the region. This trial studies the impact of the Family Matters program for youth aged 10–18 years old and at risk of engaging in delinquent behavior. As a result of the program, parental supervision improved and there wasareduction insome of the youths’ negativebehaviors and attitudes, but the magnitude of improvements was small: participants’ average number of risk factors decreased by only one fifth of a standard deviation. Improved behaviors did not translate into reduced youth delinquency. The findings suggest that with some adjustments to improve program targeting and address pressing family challenges, the intervention may have a more meaningful impact on caregiving practices and youth behaviors and delinquency levels.

Suggested Citation

  • Stahlberg, Stephanie G. & Díaz-Cayeros, Alberto & Pizatella-Haswell, Rachel, 2022. "Supporting youth and families to prevent risky youth behavior and delinquency: An impact evaluation of a family counseling program in the Caribbean," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 142(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:142:y:2022:i:c:s019074092200281x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106645
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S019074092200281X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106645?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anne-Linda Camerini & Peter J. Schulz, 2018. "Social Desirability Bias in Child-Report Social Well-Being: Evaluation of the Children’s Social Desirability Short Scale Using Item Response Theory and Examination of Its Impact on Self-Report Family ," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 11(4), pages 1159-1174, August.
    2. Edward Miguel & Michael Kremer, 2004. "Worms: Identifying Impacts on Education and Health in the Presence of Treatment Externalities," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 72(1), pages 159-217, January.
    3. Johannes Haushofer & Jeremy Shapiro, 2016. "The Short-term Impact of Unconditional Cash Transfers to the Poor: ExperimentalEvidence from Kenya," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 131(4), pages 1973-2042.
    4. Ivar Krumpal, 2013. "Determinants of social desirability bias in sensitive surveys: a literature review," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 47(4), pages 2025-2047, June.
    5. Nicola J. Reavley & Susan M. Sawyer & UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti, 2017. "Improving the Methodological Quality of Research in Adolescent Well-being," Papers inores875, Innocenti Research Briefs.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. DiTraglia, Francis J. & García-Jimeno, Camilo & O’Keeffe-O’Donovan, Rossa & Sánchez-Becerra, Alejandro, 2023. "Identifying causal effects in experiments with spillovers and non-compliance," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 235(2), pages 1589-1624.
    2. Dennis Egger & Johannes Haushofer & Edward Miguel & Paul Niehaus & Michael Walker, 2022. "General Equilibrium Effects of Cash Transfers: Experimental Evidence From Kenya," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 90(6), pages 2603-2643, November.
    3. Guillermo Cruces & Dario Tortarolo & Gonzalo Vazquez-Bare, 2022. "Design of two-stage experiments with an application to spillovers in tax compliance," IFS Working Papers W22/32, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    4. Joshua D Merfeld, 2020. "Moving Up or Just Surviving? Nonfarm Self‐Employment in India," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 102(1), pages 32-53, January.
    5. Nathan Nunn, 2019. "Rethinking economic development," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 52(4), pages 1349-1373, November.
    6. Martina Jakob, Konstantin Buechel, Daniel Steffen, Aymo Brunetti, 2023. "Participatory Teaching Improves Learning Outcomes: Evidence from a Field Experiment in Tanzania," Diskussionsschriften dp2310, Universitaet Bern, Departement Volkswirtschaft.
    7. Dario Tortarolo & Guillermo Cruces & Gonzalo Vazquez-Bare, 2023. "Design of partial population experiments with an application to spillovers in tax compliance," IFS Working Papers W23/17, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    8. Francis J. DiTraglia & Camilo Garcia-Jimeno & Rossa O'Keeffe-O'Donovan & Alejandro Sanchez-Becerra, 2020. "Identifying Causal Effects in Experiments with Spillovers and Non-compliance," Papers 2011.07051, arXiv.org, revised Jan 2023.
    9. Stephen Smith, 2018. "Development Economics Meets the Challenges of Lagging U.S. Areas: Applications to Education, Health and Nutrition, Behavior, and Infrastructure," Working Papers 2018-7, The George Washington University, Institute for International Economic Policy.
    10. Heitzig, Chris & O’Keeffe-O’Donovan, Rossa, 2024. "Spillover Effects and Diffusion of Savings Groups," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    11. Pan, Yao & Singhal, Saurabh, 2019. "Agricultural extension, intra-household allocation and malaria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 157-170.
    12. David K. Evans & Arkadipta Ghosh, 2008. "Prioritizing Educational Investments in Children in the Developing World," Working Papers WR-587, RAND Corporation.
    13. Saini, Shweta & Sharma, Sameedh & Gulati, Ashok & Hussain, Siraj & von Braun, Joachim, 2017. "Indian food and welfare schemes: Scope for digitization towards cash transfers," Discussion Papers 261791, University of Bonn, Center for Development Research (ZEF).
    14. Battaglia, Marianna & Lebedinski, Lara, 2015. "Equal Access to Education: An Evaluation of the Roma Teaching Assistant Program in Serbia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 62-81.
    15. Corno, Lucia & Voena, Alessandra, 2023. "Child marriage as informal insurance: Empirical evidence and policy simulations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).
    16. Verónica Amarante & Marco Manacorda & Edward Miguel & Andrea Vigorito, 2016. "Do Cash Transfers Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from Matched Vital Statistics, Program, and Social Security Data," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-43, May.
    17. Tofallis, Chris, 2020. "Which formula for national happiness?," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    18. Andreoni, James & Serra-Garcia, Marta, 2021. "Time inconsistent charitable giving," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    19. Kirill Borusyak & Peter Hull & Xavier Jaravel, 2023. "Design-Based Identification with Formula Instruments: A Review," NBER Working Papers 31393, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Mark D. Manuszak & Krzysztof Wozniak, 2017. "The Impact of Price Controls in Two-sided Markets : Evidence from US Debit Card Interchange Fee Regulation," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2017-074, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:cysrev:v:142:y:2022:i:c:s019074092200281x. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/childyouth .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.