title: Reducing the Risk of Internalizing Symptoms among High-risk Hispanic Youth through a Family Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial.
abstract: Familias Unidas is an intervention that has been found to be efficacious in preventing and reducing substance use, sexual risk, and problem behaviors among Hispanic youth. While it does not specifically target youth internalizing symptoms, the intervention works to strengthen parenting and family factors associated with reduced risk of internalizing symptoms (i.e., depression, anxiety symptoms). This study examines the effects of Familias Unidas on internalizing symptoms among high-risk youth, as well as the role of family level factors in the intervention's effects. A total of 242 12-17-year-old Hispanic youth with a history of delinquency and their primary caregivers were recruited from the school and juvenile justice systems, and randomly assigned to the Familias Unidas intervention or community practice control. A linear latent growth model was used to examine intervention effects on the trajectory of adolescent internalizing symptoms from baseline to 6 and 12 months post-baseline. Results show that the Familias Unidas intervention was more efficacious than control in reducing youth internalizing symptoms. Baseline youth externalizing and internalizing symptoms did not moderate the intervention's effects on the trajectory of youth internalizing symptoms. While parent-adolescent communication did not significantly moderate the intervention's effects, changes in parent-adolescent communication mediated the intervention's effects on internalizing symptoms, showing stronger intervention effects for youth starting with poorer communication. Findings indicate that the Familias Unidas intervention can reduce internalizing symptoms among high-risk Hispanic youth, and that improving parent-youth communication, a protective family factor, may be one of the mechanisms by which the intervention influences youth internalizing symptoms.
authors: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL.
authors: Tatiana
authors: T
authors: Perrino
authors: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL.
authors: Hilda
authors: H
authors: Pantin
authors: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL.
authors: Shi
authors: S
authors: Huang
authors: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL.
authors: Ahnalee
authors: A
authors: Brincks
authors: Departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
authors: C Hendricks
authors: CH
authors: Brown
authors: Department of Public Health Sciences, University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Miami, FL.
authors: Guillermo
authors: G
authors: Prado
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001007:Anxiety / Q000517:prevention & control*; D002648:Child; D003142:Communication; D003863:Depression / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D005196:Family Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency; D008297:Male; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control; D047568:Unsafe Sex / Q000517:prevention & control
keywords: Adolescent; Depression; Family; Hispanic; Internalizing Symptoms; Prevention; adolescente; depresión; familia; hispano; internalización de síntomas; prevención; 内在化症状; 家庭; 干预; 抑郁; 西班牙裔; 青少年