Findings

The 12 week Familia Adelante program for at-risk youth has been studied extensively and has demonstrated to:

• Increase academic performance

• Improve school attendance

• Reduce substance abuse

• Reduce high risk behaviors

• Increase communication among family members

• Decrease acculturative stress

Study 1:

Familia Adelante was initially tested with middle school aged youth with behavioral problems in a Southern California

community (Cervantes 1993). Results from the initial study revealed the following outcomes:

• Screening of high-risk youth through a collaborative effort between project staff and school-based personnel (Glendale

Unified School district) is possible.

• Program content which is provided in Spanish for parents, and is culturally-responsive appears to be an acceptable form of

prevention/intervention for high-risk Hispanic families.

• The use of bilingual outreach personnel allows for tracking and retention of high-risk families.

• The use of bilingual outreach personnel allows for tracking and retention of high-risk families.

• Over 75% of participating families completed the twelve-week prevention program.

• Participating youth were noted to improve in terms of self-esteem, school performance, and overall conduct as reported by

parents.

Study 2:

In a more recent study of 150 families who received Familia Adelante (Cervantes, Goldbach & Santos, 2011) Findings

indicate:

•

Communication and perception of substance use harm were significantly enhanced

•

Social norms regarding sexual behavior and HIV risk perception were improved

•

30 day past marijuana use and other illicit drug use were significantly reduced

Study 3:

Changes in Acculturative Stress by Family Nativity

** Research Sources and Publications