Impacts of the Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers Multimodal Universal Preventive Intervention Program On Substance Use and Abuse During Emerging Adulthood

INTRODUCTION

There is a consensus among scientists that prevention programs for youth antisocial behavior are most likely to be effective if they are grounded in empirically based developmental models. Most developmental models for antisocial behavior highlight 3 key points: (1) multiple risk and protective factors in the home, school, peer, and community domains are important in the genesis and maintenance of persistent and serious antisocial behavior; (2) such behaviors often co-occur with other problem behaviors of public health significance (e.g., heavy substance use); and (3) antisocial behavior and other youth problem behaviors become difficult to change with increasing age for many reasons, notably the high rates of reinforcement that individuals receive for their problem behaviors in an increasing number of settings, and the corresponding low rates of reinforcement for conventional behaviors and achievements. Given this theoretical framework, many researchers favor preventive intervention programs that are delivered early in life (prenatal to elementary school age) and that target multiple risk and protective factors over time. Here, we examine the impacts of a developmentally grounded multimodal preventive intervention, the Linking the Interests of Families and Teachers (LIFT) program, on substance use and abuse in emerging adulthood (age 15–25 years).

METHOD

The efficacy of LIFT was examined in the context of a randomized controlled trial involving 12 neighborhood based public schools (6 “intervention” schools, 6 services as usual “control” schools) and 671 children and their families. Two versions of the intervention were tested—one that targeted 1st graders and their parents (50% of schools), and the other that targeted 5th graders and their parents (50% of schools). The trial was conducted in a moderate sized urban area in the Pacific Northwest; 15% of participants were from ethnic minority groups and 50% were girls. Children, parents, and teachers were assessed yearly until participants were in their early to mid-20’s.  Longitudinal growth modeling in MPlus was used to examine outcomes, while accounting for participant clustering and missing data.

RESULTS

In the initial years following intervention, LIFT was related to improvements in parenting behaviors and child social skills, and to reduced physical aggression in children. Later, LIFT predicted less police contact and less substance use. Here, we will examine early adult outcomes using SEM and growth modeling, thus allowing to compare results with those from the other two presentations that are part of this symposium.

CONCLUSION

Results will be discussed in the context of past preventive efforts, and implications will be discussed for future interventions that target children starting in elementary school.