Project

Family Connections

Project Description

This project tested the efficacy of a universal drug abuse prevention program for families with eighth-grade students in the Seattle school district. The project examined the efficacy of two programs for improving family interactions and reducing family and peer risks for drug abuse. The intervention was based on the parent and adolescent family-centered “Parents Who Care” program that was developed and pilot tested under a grant form NIDA. The study compared families randomly assigned to group- or self-administered program conditions and an intervention control condition and examined the mediating and moderating processes through which the intervention affected patterns of drug use initiation and escalation. It also evaluated the proximal and distal impact of the program up to two years post-intervention.