Cultural Adaptation and Social Validity Evaluation of the Strengthening Families Program (SFP 10-14) in Brazil

Although a decreasing in the use of drugs in Brazil has occurred recently, this is still a serious public health problem in the country. In view of this, the Strengthening Families Program (SFP 10-14) was adopted by the Ministry of Health of Brazil in order to prevent drug abuse among teenagers. There was a prior implementation in the second half of 2013 in the Federal District, in order to evaluate its suitability for Brazilian culture. The present study aimed, firstly, to evaluate the cultural appropriateness of materials and procedures of the Strengthening Families Program to subsidize their cultural adaptation to Brazilian families and, secondly, assess their social validity. The participants were 93 parents/guardians, 107 adolescents, six federal multipliers, 15 group leaders and five supervisors. Data collection took place through interviews, questionnaires, incomplete sentences, nominal groups and direct observation. The results showed that the program was perceived as relevant, attractive and clear from the perspective of families, youths, external observers and group leaders. Suggestions for cultural adaptation of linguistic aspects, scenes of videos and activities were provided by the family members, adolescents and group leaders. The group leaders and external observers perceived youths and their families as responsive to the program. Parents/guardians and youth reported satisfaction with the program, especially with the learning opportunities and procedures. Parents/guardians were interviewed at two months after the program and reported impact of the program on the quality of family interactions, improvement in parents-children communication, increase in parent’s emotion regulation skills, and augmentation of time spent with their children. They also reported impact on the children behavior, such as in their engagement in homework assignments, obedience to rules and academic performance improvement. It is concluded that the program has achieved good acceptability among the participants as well as demonstrated relevance to the local culture. Besides, it shows potential of benefit to Brazilian families, which justifies its difusion to new regions of the country, if provided the proper care regarding adaptation of materials and procedures, selection of families, group leaders training, sessions planning and adequate infrastructure.