Session: Long-Term and Cross-over Effects of Drug Abuse Prevention Interventions on the Reduction of Suicidal Ideation and Behaviors (Society for Prevention Research 23rd Annual Meeting)

As the 10^th leading cause of death, suicide is a major public health problem in the United States.   Suicide claims twice as many lives as homicide, and is the 2nd leading cause of death for youth aged 15 to 24 (WISQARS, 2014).   Increasing suicide rates in the U.S. military over the past several years have been an area of concern and enormous resources have been devoted to understanding and preventing its occurrence.  It is important to develop and test strategies to intervene with youth and young adults at high risk (e.g., who already experience suicidal ideation and behaviors (HHS, 2012), and prevention science has the opportunity to decrease risk for suicidal ideation and behavior before it is manifested.  Indeed, there is a small body of findings showing long term (Wilcox et al., 2008, Hawkins et al., 2005) and cross-over effects (Kerr, DeGarmo, Leve, & Chamberlain, 2014) of drug abuse prevention interventions delivered in early childhood and adolescence on suicidal ideation and/or behavior in adolescence and young adulthood.  These findings are consistent with a body of evidence accumulating from NIDA’s drug abuse prevention portfolio showing long-term effects of prevention interventions delivered early in life on a broad array of risky and protective behaviors, including cross-over effects, e.g., behaviors not targeted in the interventions.  Some of these prevention interventions have been found to have their greatest effects on participants at highest risk.  The Prioritized Research Agenda for Suicide Prevention (2014; www.suicide-research-agenda.org) identified two research objectives relevant to the need to determine the potential benefits of early prevention efforts. This symposium will highlight recent attempts to expand the body of evidence on the long-term and cross-over effects of family-based drug abuse prevention interventions on suicidal ideation and behaviors. The first presentation will focus on a randomized controlled trial testing the efficacy of the Family Check-Up, which uses a general intervention framework referred to as an Ecological Approach to Family Intervention and Treatment (EcoFIT).  The second presentation will focus on findings from randomized controlled trials testing the efficacy and effectiveness of Familias Unidas, a family-based eco-developmental-based prevention intervention for Hispanic families.  The third presentation will present preliminary results of a randomized controlled trial of ADAPT (After Deployment: Adaptive Parenting Skills), a resilience-promoting program that builds skills in military families by training parents in core effective parenting skills.  A discussant will examine common themes and lead a broader discussion of next steps for this body of research.