The Strong African American Families Program: a cluster-randomized prevention trial of long-term effects and a mediational model.
The Strong African American Families Program, a universal preventive intervention to deter alcohol use among rural African American adolescents, was evaluated in a cluster-randomized prevention trial. This 7-week family skills training program is based on a contextual model in which intervention effects on youth protective factors lead to changes in alcohol use. African American 11-year-olds and their primary caregivers from 9 rural communities (N = 332 families) were randomly selected for study participation. Communities were randomized to prevention and control conditions. Intent-to-treat analyses indicated that fewer prevention than control adolescents initiated alcohol use; those who did evinced slower increases in use over time. Intervention-induced changes in youth protective factors mediated the effect of group assignment on long-term changes in use.
Brody
Gene H
GH
Department of Child and Family Development, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602-4527, USA. gbrody@uga.edu
Murry
Velma McBride
VM
Kogan
Steven M
SM
Gerrard
Meg
M
Gibbons
Frederick X
FX
Molgaard
Virginia
V
Brown
Anita C
AC
Anderson
Tracy
T
Chen
Yi-fu
YF
Luo
Zupei
Z
Wills
Thomas Ashby
TA
D000293:Adolescent; D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D013997:Time Factors