U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government, Department of Justice.

The Strong African American Families Program: A Cluster-Randomized Prevention Trial of Long-Term Effects and a Mediational Model

NCJ Number
253571
Journal
Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology Volume: 74 Issue: 2 Dated: 2006 Pages: 356-366
Date Published
2006
Length
11 pages
Annotation

This article reports on a cluster randomized prevention trial used to evaluate the Strong African American Families Program, a universal preventive intervention to deter alcohol use among rural African American adolescents.

Abstract

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 adolescents in the prevention group initiated alcohol use compared to adolescents in the control group. Those in the program group who did initiate alcohol use showed slower increases in use over time compared to the control group. Intervention-induced changes in youth protective factors mediated the effect of group assignment on long-term changes in use. (publisher abstract modified)

Date Published: January 1, 2006