This proposal will test the long-term impact of the Family Check-Up (FCU) approach to preventing substance use and other high-risk problem behaviors from toddlerhood through adolescence by enhancing parenting. A critical question for a randomized prevention trial such as this is the extent to which early family support reduces adolescent alcohol and drug use (ADU), high-risk sexual behavior linked to HIV-AIDS, and serious problem behaviors in adolescence. The study also will examine how reduction in these adolescent problem behaviors is mediated by improvement in parenting and peer environments and is moderated by the family ecology and genetic risk. The proposed study will include follow-up assessments of 731 children through adolescence that include the collection of DNA; observations of family interaction; parent, youth and teacher report of adjustment; and assessments of and reports about peer environments. The Early Steps (ES) multisite sample was recruited from WIC centers in three geographically, socioeconomically, and ethnically diverse communities: Pittsburgh, PA; Charlottesville, VA; and Eugene, OR. To increase the number of sample families at risk for later ADU, eligibility was restricted to WIC families with additional socioeconomic (i.e., low parental education), family (i.e., maternal stress), and child (i.e., toddler conduct problems) risk factors. The children and families were initially assessed at child age 2 and then yearly through age 10.5, using a multi-agent and multi-method strategy that included direct observations of family interaction in most years. Families were randomly assigned to be offered a yearly FCU intervention, including adapted and tailored family management interventions. Specifically, the Family Check-Up will be evaluated as it relates to reducing adolescent substance use, high-risk sexual behavior linked to HIV, and other serious problem behavior at ages 14 and 16, how such intervention effects might be mediated by changes in parenting, and moderated by neighborhood adversity and GxE interactions.

Public Health Relevance

Substance use and related problems are critical public health issues that typically begin during adolescence. This application proposes to examine the onset of substance use, HIV-relevant risky sexual behavior, and other related problems during adolescence. The application takes advantage of an unprecedented opportunity to incorporate longitudinal data from a multi-site substance use prevention trial initiated when at-risk children were age 2 and continued through age 10.5 with 731 high-risk, low-income, ethnically-diverse children and families from urban, rural, and suburban communities. Specifically, the efficacy of the Family Check-Up will be evaluated as it relates to reducing adolescent substance use, high-risk sexual behavior linked to HIV, and other serious problem behavior at ages 14 and 16, how such intervention effects might be mediated by changes in parenting, and moderated by neighborhood adversity and GxE interactions.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DA036832-03
Application #
9062408
Study Section
Special Emphasis Panel (ZRG1)
Program Officer
Sims, Belinda E
Project Start
2014-05-01
Project End
2019-04-30
Budget Start
2016-05-01
Budget End
2017-04-30
Support Year
3
Fiscal Year
2016
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Pittsburgh
Department
Psychology
Type
Schools of Arts and Sciences
DUNS #
004514360
City
Pittsburgh
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
15213
Savell, Shannon M; Womack, Sean R; Wilson, Melvin N et al. (2018) Considering the role of early discrimination experiences and the parent-child relationship in the development of disruptive behaviors in adolescence. Infant Ment Health J :
Galán, Chardée A; Shaw, Daniel S; Dishion, Thomas J et al. (2017) Neighborhood Deprivation during Early Childhood and Conduct Problems in Middle Childhood: Mediation by Aggressive Response Generation. J Abnorm Child Psychol 45:935-946
Pelham 3rd, William E; Dishion, Thomas J; Tein, Jenn-Yun et al. (2017) What Doesn't Work for Whom? Exploring Heterogeneity in Responsiveness to the Family Check-Up in Early Childhood Using a Mixture Model Approach. Prev Sci 18:911-922
Shaw, Daniel S; Taraban, Lindsay E (2017) New Directions and Challenges in Preventing Conduct Problems in Early Childhood. Child Dev Perspect 11:85-89
McIntyre, Laura Lee; Pelham 3rd, William E; Kim, Matthew H et al. (2017) A Brief Measure of Language Skills at 3 Years of Age and Special Education Use in Middle Childhood. J Pediatr 181:189-194
Dishion, Thomas J; Mun, Chung Jung; Tein, Jenn-Yun et al. (2017) The Validation of Macro and Micro Observations of Parent-Child Dynamics Using the Relationship Affect Coding System in Early Childhood. Prev Sci 18:268-280
Dishion, Thomas; Forgatch, Marion; Chamberlain, Patricia et al. (2016) The Oregon Model of Behavior Family Therapy: From Intervention Design to Promoting Large-Scale System Change. Behav Ther 47:812-837
Shaw, Daniel S; Sitnick, Stephanie L; Brennan, Lauretta M et al. (2016) The long-term effectiveness of the Family Check-Up on school-age conduct problems: Moderation by neighborhood deprivation. Dev Psychopathol 28:1471-1486
Dishion, Thomas J (2016) From Dynamics to Function. Assessment 23:518-523
Smith, Justin D; Dishion, Thomas J; Shaw, Daniel S et al. (2015) Negative relational schemas predict the trajectory of coercive dynamics during early childhood. J Abnorm Child Psychol 43:693-703

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