The proposed study's overarching goal is to reduce the ethnic disparities in illicit drug use, cigarette use, and HIV between Hispanic and non-Hispanic youth. This goal will be accomplished by four aims:
AIM 1 is to evaluate the effectiveness of Familias Unidas, relative to Community Practice (i.e., standard prevention services), in preventing illicit drug use;
AIM 2 is to evaluate the effectiveness of Familias Unidas, relative to Community Control, in preventing cigarette use;
AIM 3 is to evaluate the effectiveness of Familias Unidas, relative to Community Control, in preventing unprotected sexual behavior;
and AIM 4 is to assess the extent to which family functioning mediates the effects of the intervention on illicit drug use, cigarette use, and unprotected sexual behavior. Twenty four middle schools with a total sample of 744 Hispanic adolescents from a wide geographic area of Miami-Dade County will be randomized using a block design to one of two conditions: Familias Unidas or Community Practice. The Familias Unidas intervention has been evaluated and found to be efficacious in two separate randomized controlled trials. In the first study (Pantin et al., 2003), Familias Unidas was shown to be efficacious relative to a no intervention control condition in increasing family functioning and reducing behavior problems (Prado et al., 2006), risk factors for youth illicit drug use and unprotected sex. In the second randomized controlled trial (Prado et al., in press), Familias Unidas was found to be efficacious, relative to two attention control conditions, in preventing cigarette use and illicit drug use. Familias Unidas was also found to be efficacious relative to both of the control conditions in preventing/reducing unprotected sexual behavior at last sexual intercourse. Finally, family functioning was found to mediate the effects of intervention condition on the outcomes. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) will be used to test: (H1) Familias Unidas will be more effective than Community Practice in reducing illicit drug use over time;(H2) Familias Unidas will be more effective than Community Practice in reducing cigarette use over time;and (H3) Familias Unidas will be more effective than Community Practice in reducing unprotected sexual behavior over time. Additionally HLM will be used to determine whether (H1a) the effect of Familias Unidas on illicit drug use will be partially mediated by family functioning;(H2a) the effect of Familias Unidas on cigarette use will be partially mediated by family functioning and (H3a) the effect of Familias Unidas on unprotected sexual behavior will be partially mediated by family functioning.

Public Health Relevance

The objective of the proposed study is to reduce illicit drug use, cigarette use, and unsafe sexual behavior health disparities in Hispanic populations. The knowledge expected to be gained from this study will aid in the development of effective interventions to reduce drug use, cigarette use, unprotected sexual behavior, and HIV in Hispanic adolescents.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
3R01DA025192-02S1
Application #
8101469
Study Section
Community-Level Health Promotion Study Section (CLHP)
Program Officer
Crump, Aria
Project Start
2008-12-15
Project End
2013-11-30
Budget Start
2010-07-01
Budget End
2010-11-30
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
2010
Total Cost
$30,600
Indirect Cost
Name
University of Miami School of Medicine
Department
Public Health & Prev Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
052780918
City
Coral Gables
State
FL
Country
United States
Zip Code
33146
Asfour, Lila; Huang, Shi; Ocasio, Manuel A et al. (2017) Association between Socio-Ecological Risk Factor Clustering and Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Problems in Hispanic Adolescents. J Child Fam Stud 26:1266-1273
Martinez, Marcos J; Huang, Shi; Estrada, Yannine et al. (2017) The Relationship Between Acculturation, Ecodevelopment, and Substance Use Among Hispanic Adolescents. J Early Adolesc 37:948-974
Estrada, Yannine; Lee, Tae Kyoung; Huang, Shi et al. (2017) Parent-Centered Prevention of Risky Behaviors Among Hispanic Youths in Florida. Am J Public Health 107:607-613
Tapia, Maria I; Ocasio, Manuel A; Estrada, Yannine et al. (2017) Engaging School Mental Health Professionals to Deliver Evidence-Based Interventions to Hispanic Families. Health Promot Pract 18:526-533
Lila, Asfour; Koussa, Maryann; Perrino, Tatiana et al. (2016) The association of organized and unorganized physical activity and sedentary behavior with internalizing and externalizing symptoms in Hispanic adolescents. Child Adolesc Ment Health 21:109-114
St George, Sara M; Huang, Shi; Vidot, Denise C et al. (2016) Factors associated with the implementation of the Familias Unidas intervention in a type 3 translational trial. Transl Behav Med 6:105-14
Gallo, Carlos; Pantin, Hilda; Villamar, Juan et al. (2015) Blending Qualitative and Computational Linguistics Methods for Fidelity Assessment: Experience with the Familias Unidas Preventive Intervention. Adm Policy Ment Health 42:574-85
Prado, Guillermo; Pantin, Hilda; Estrada, Yannine (2015) Integrating evidence-based interventions for adolescents into primary care. Am J Prev Med 48:488-90
Bacio, Guadalupe A; Estrada, Yannine; Huang, Shi et al. (2015) Ecodevelopmental predictors of early initiation of alcohol, tobacco, and drug use among Hispanic adolescents. J Sch Psychol 53:195-208
Cordova, David; Huang, Shi; Lally, Meghan et al. (2014) Do parent-adolescent discrepancies in family functioning increase the risk of Hispanic adolescent HIV risk behaviors? Fam Process 53:348-63

Showing the most recent 10 out of 25 publications