A Family-Based Alcohol Preventive Intervention for Latino Emerging Adults



 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In the proposed study, we will develop and pilot-test a family-based underage drinking prevention program for Latino emerging adults. The program will include a parenting component, to be delivered to the parents of the emerging adult, and an identity development component, to be delivered to the emerging adult her/himself. The project will be divided into three phases: (1) development of the intervention components (including writing first drafts of the intervention manuals); (2) initial pilot testing and focus group feedbak (including modifying the intervention and revising the manuals); and (3) a randomized pilot study. All three steps will be carried out in both Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Lane County, Oregon. The parenting component will be developed by adapting efficacious parenting strategies used with adolescents so that the activities are developmentally appropriate for parents of emerging adults. The identity development component will be developed by integrating identity-based intervention strategies that have been used successfully with adolescents and emerging adults, again ensuring that they are developmentally appropriate. Developing, refining, and pilot testing the intervention across two very different contexts (urban versus rural) and Latino subgroups (primarily Cuban, Nicaraguan, and Colombian in Florida versus primarily Mexican in Oregon) will permit us to examine the extent to which our proposed intervention has the potential to be efficacious across a range of contexts and Latino subgroups.