Delaying Youth Substance Use: The Effects of a Culturally Specific Parenting Program in Strengthening Positive Parenting Practices of Mexican Origin Families in the Southwest US

Introduction: Parenting programs can have positive effects on the acquisition of parenting skills and are some of the most effective ways of impacting youth substance use and other risk behaviors. Familias: Preparando la Nueva Generación (FPNG) is a parent program designed to supplement the SAMHSA model youth program, keepin’ it REAL (kiR). The purpose of this paper is to test if participating in FPNG increases positive parenting skills which, in turn, delays substance use initiation among 7th grade adolescents.

 

Methods: This longitudinal study followed parents and youth over two years, from the beginning of 7^th grade until the end of 8^th grade. Randomized at the school-level, parents and youth in nine schools were assigned into one of three conditions: (1) control condition (C), (2) youth-only program, (Y), and (3) parent + youth programs (PY).  Parents and youth completed self-report questionnaires at baseline (W1), immediately following the intervention (W2), and 18-months post baseline (W3). The sample for this study includes only those youth who, at W1, had never used alcohol (N=221) or cigarettes (N=330) and their parent. Structural equation modeling (SEM) estimated the effects of the intervention on positive parenting and delayed substance use initiation.

Findings:  PY parents reported greater levels of positive parenting at W2 compared to Y parents (alcohol use initiation, β = .24, p < .01; cigarette use initiation, β = .16, p < .05), controlling for positive parenting at W1.  Having higher levels of positive parenting was significantly associated with delays in youth alcohol initiation at both W2 (β = -.31, p < .01) and W3 (β = -.25, p < .05).  We had similar results for delays in cigarette initiation. Higher levels of positive parenting was significantly associated with delays in cigarette initiation at W2 (β = -.26, p < .05) and marginally at W3 (β = -.19, p = .08).

Conclusion: The results indicate that parenting interventions designed to take into account the environment of the families, including culture of origin and its cultural assets, can lead to a significant strengthening of positive parenting practices. In turn, strengthening parenting practices decreases the odds that pre-adolescents will initiate alcohol and cigarettes.  The current findings provide a strong validation for culturally specific family-centered interventions that can enhance and complement school-based substance abuse prevention efforts with Mexican American youth.