Unique

cultural

stressors

and

other

risk

factors

may

place

some

Hispanic

youth

at

greater

risk

for

these

problems

as compared to youth of other cultural and ethnic groups (Cervantes et. al. 2012).

In

response

to

these

issues

and

concerns,

research

supported

by

the

National

Institute

of

Mental

Health

(NIMH)

was

initiated

at

the

UCLA

Spanish

Speaking

Mental

Health

Center

to

identify

culturally

unique

risk

and

protective

profiles for Hispanic youth and adults.

As

part

of

a

series

of

research

studies,

the

Hispanic

Family

Intervention

Program

(HFIP,

now

Familia

Adelante)

was

developed

and

tested

(Cervantes,

1993).

In

line

with

the

work

of

Hawkins

and

Catalano,

(1998)

Familia

Adelante, aims to strengthen Latino youth ties to family, school, peers and culture.