Familia Adelante: A Multi-Risk Prevention Intervention for Latino Families

A comprehensive approach for providing behavioral health services to youth is becoming increasingly emphasized. Latino youth
are at increased risk for substance abuse, mental health concerns, unsafe sexual practices and HIV, and these outcomes have
been empirically connected to individual, family and community-based stress. Despite this knowledge, there is a lack of evidence-based
approaches that target these negative outcomes by reducing stress in Latino families in a culturally relevant manner. The
current study examined the use of research-based strategies for reducing multiple risk behaviors in a predominantly Mexican–American
sample of families. Through a modular approach, participants engaged in a psycho-educational curriculum to enhance communication
and psychosocial coping, increase substance abuse and HIV knowledge and perception of harm, and improve school behavior. Over
12 sessions, the curriculum aimed to achieve these outcomes through an overall decrease in family and community-based stress
by focusing on acculturative stress. Findings indicate that communication and perception of substance use harm were significantly
enhanced, while social norms regarding sexual behavior, HIV anxiety and past use of marijuana and other illegal drugs were
significantly reduced. While many of measures were reliable (α > .80), further changes are necessary to improve the accuracy
of future studies. Despite these limitations, Familia Adelante improves many areas of participant’s family life, and points
toward the feasibility of multi-risk reduction behavioral health prevention approaches.