A randomized prevention trial was conducted to contrast families who participated in the Strong African American Families Program (SAAF) with matched families who did not participate (controls).
The SAAF is a preventive intervention for rural African American parents and their 11-year-olds. The evaluation, which included 671 families, indicated that intervention-induced changes occurred in intervention-targeted parenting and youth behavior, as well as youth initiation of alcohol use and sexual activity. Four waves of data collected were obtained at pretest, 3-month post-test, 29-month long-term follow up, and 65-month long-term follow up. Three data points were selected and analyzed in the current study: pretest, post-test, and 65-month long-term follow-up to capture the sustainability of SAAF during three critical developmental stages, i.e., middle childhood, early adolescence, and late adolescence. Intervention-induced changes in parenting mediated the effect of intervention-group influences on changes in the onset and escalation of alcohol use and sexual activity over 65 months through its positive influence on youths’ perceptions and internalization of parental norms and resistance to engaging in risk opportunities. These findings highlight the potential for family-based prevention programs to improve positive developmental outcomes to reduce HIV-related risk behaviors among rural African American youth. (publisher abstract modified)