Virginia Molgaard

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.

Family-centered Program Deters Substance Use, Conduct Problems, and Depressive Symptoms in Black Adolescents

Objectives: The present research addressed the following important question in pediatric medicine: Can participation in a new family-centered preventive intervention, the Strong African American Families–Teen (SAAF–T) program, deter conduct problems, substance use, substance use problems, and depressive symptoms among rural black adolescents across 22 months? Methods: Data were collected from 502 black families in rural Georgia, assigned randomly to SAAF–T or an attention control condition. The prevention condition consisted of 5 consecutive meetings at community facilities with separate, concurrent sessions for caregivers and adolescents followed by a caregiver-adolescent session in which families practiced skills they learned in the separate sessions. Adolescents self-reported conduct problem behaviors, substance use, substance use problems, and depressive symptoms at ages 16 years (pretest) and 17 years 10 months (long-term assessment). Results: Adolescents who participated in SAAF–T evinced lower increases in conduct problem behavior, substance use, substance use problems, and depressive symptom frequencies than did adolescents in the attention control condition across the 22 months between pretest and long-term assessment. Conclusions: This is the first study to demonstrate efficacy in a prevention program designed to deter conduct problems, substance use, substance use problems, and depressive symptoms among rural black adolescents. Because SAAF–T is a manualized, structured program, it can be easily disseminated to public health agencies, schools, churches, boys’ and girls’ clubs, and other community organizations.

The Strengthening Families Program for Young Adolescents: Overview and Outcomes

SUMMARY The Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10–14 (SFP 10–14) is a video-based program designed to reduce substance abuse and other problem behavior in youth. Objectives include: (1) building skills in youth to reduce risk and build protective factors, (2) improving parenting practices known to reduce risk in youth, and (3) building stronger family units to support and guide youth. The SFP 10–14 is a universal program designed for ethnically-diverse general populations at all economic and educational levels. The 10 to 14-year-old youth, late elementary and middle school age, attend the program and practice skills together with their parents.

Project Family: A Partnership Integrating Research with the Practice of Promoting Family and Youth Competencies

Project Family involves a community-university partnership directed toward “action-oriented research” (e.g., Small, 1995). As such, it aims to achieve two goals: To generate knowledge that will advance the science of family-focused competency building and to enhance the well-being of participating families and children. The project’s ultimate purpose is to strengthen the competencies of general population families and children on a broad scale—to ensure that a larger number of children develop into healthy and adaptive adults in the project’s targeted general populations.

Exploratory Study of a Preventive Intervention with General Population African American Families

The authors report the intervention implementation and outcome evaluation of the Strengthening Families Program: For Parents and Youth 10-14 (SFP 10-14),involving a sample of African American families with young adolescents. Implementation feasibility clearly was demonstrated. A sufficient number of families was recruited successfully, retention rates were strong, and observer ratings showed high adherence to the intervention protocol. Control group comparisons at posttest showed positive results for intervention-targeted child behaviors and for child participation in family meetings but not for other outcome measures. Findings of the investigation are discussed in terms of their relevance to ongoing intervention research with minority populations and considered in light of study limitations.

Consumer-Focused Data Collection in Prevention Program Evaluation Rationale and Illustrations

This article presents a rationalefor consumer-focused data collection at multiple points in the process ofprevention program evaluation. Recommended procedures include data collection on consumer responses to various recruitment strategies and consumer preferences for specific program delivery features. Following the general rationale for use of these procedures, a summary description of their relationship with existing approaches to program evaluation is presented. Finally, illustrations of consumer-focused data collection procedures applied during several phases of an ongoing program evaluation project are provided.

Caregivers' perceptions of the relationship between the family day care business and their own families

The present study, which uses survey data from 185 family day care providers, suggests that providers perceived stress and frustration in their family members related to the family day care business. In turn, the attitudes and cooperation of family members were related to the providers satisfaction with the business and enjoyment of the work itself. Using a family systems framework, issues related to the day care business included the familys use of time, energy, and space. While the majority of providers reported satisfaction with the business and with the work itself, about a fourth of the sample expressed lower levels of satisfaction. This less satisfied group perceived more family stress related to the FDC business, was less likely to receive help from the family, and was more likely to consider giving up providing family day care.