Two-year outcomes of a randomized, family-based substance use prevention trial for Asian American adolescent girls.

Abstract

Asian Americans have been largely ignored in the prevention outcome literature. In this study, we tested a parent-child program with a sample of Asian American adolescent girls and their mothers, and evaluated the program’s efficacy on decreasing girls’ substance use, and modifying risk and protective factors at individual, family, and peer levels. One hundred and eight Asian American mother-daughter dyads recruited through online advertisements and from community service agencies were randomly assigned to an intervention arm (n = 56) or to a test-only control arm (n = 52). The intervention consisted of a nine-session substance abuse prevention program, delivered entirely online. Guided by family interaction theory, the prevention program aimed to strengthen the quality of girls’ relationships with their mothers while increasing girls’ resilience to resist substance use. Intent-to-treat analyses showed that at 2-year follow-up, intervention-arm dyads had significantly higher levels of mother-daughter closeness, mother-daughter communication, maternal monitoring, and family rules against substance use compared to the control-arm dyads. Intervention-arm girls also showed sustained improvement in self-efficacy and refusal skills, and had lower intentions to use substances in the future. Most important, intervention-arm girls reported fewer instances of alcohol and marijuana use, and prescription drug misuse relative to the control-arm girls. The study suggests that a culturally generic, family-based prevention program was efficacious in enhancing parent-child relationships, improving girls’ resiliency, and preventing substance use behaviors among Asian American girls.

Mediation effects of a culturally generic substance use prevention program for Asian American adolescents.

“…As reported earlier (Fang & Schinke, 2013), control- and intervention-arm participants did not differ in their demographic characteristics. Girls’ average age was 13.10 ( SD = 0.96) years and their mothers’ average age was 39.73 ( SD = 6.81) years.…”

Nonmedical Prescription Drug Use Among Midwestern Rural Adolescents

“…Other studies have documented an association between parental monitoring, closeness, and/or disapproval of substance use and reduced nonmedical prescription drug use (Barnes, Hoffman, & Welte, 2006;Cheng & Lo, 2012;Collins et al, 2011;Ford, 2009;King et al, 2013). Furthermore, there have been prevention programs, such as the one initiated by Fang and Schinke (2013), that have specifically focused on the protective mechanisms surrounding healthy parent-child relationships and have been associated with decreased use of illicit prescription drugs.…”

Computer-Based Prevention and Intervention to Reduce Substance Use in Youth

“…Behavioral outcomes included: reduced use of alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, and prescription, psychoactive, and other drugs; lowered rates of driving under the influence, alcohol-related injuries, delinquency, truancy, HIV risk behaviors, and television viewing; increased condom use and physical activity; decreased psychological distress and moral disengagement, intentions to use drugs, peer drug use, and peer aggressiveness and victimization; and increased coping and drug use refusal skills, knowledge of substances and HIV disease, self-efficacy, peer support, problem-solving, media literacy, and self-esteem. One study [52] involved a family member in the intervention. That program increased mother-daughter closeness and communication, maternal monitoring of girls’ behavior, and setting of family rules around adolescent substance use.…”

“…Ten of the programs evaluated in the 26 studies engaged adults to a lesser or greater extent to deliver computer-based programming. Those adults were professionals, including nurses ( n = 1) [29], school staff and parents ( n = 1) [33], teachers ( n = 4) [34, 35, 38, 39], therapists ( n = 3) [46, 49, 50, 51], and mothers ( n = 1) [52]. A range of formats are extant in the field of computer-based programs to reduce substance use among youth.…”

“…Two studies [47, 48] took place in substance use treatment facilities or clinics, also capturing youths’ attention between their receipt of clinical services. The three studies [52–54] that let youths complete their computer-based prevention programs at home engaged national U.S. samples. In these investigations, the portability advantages of computer-based approaches are manifest.…”