Abstract
Latinx youth experience disparities in the availability of and participation in evidence-based interventions to reduce hazardous alcohol use. The aim of this secondary data analysis was to examine whether Project Options, a brief, evidence-based alcohol use intervention was beneficial for Latinx participants. A total of 331 first-, second-, and third-generation immigrant Latina and Latino youth who participated in a multi-site, hybrid effectiveness/efficacy clinical trial of the intervention were selected for analyses. Mixed-effects growth models tested changes in drinking cognitions (i.e., perception of peer drinking, intention to drink next month, alcohol use and cessation expectancies) and behaviors (i.e., number of past-month drinking days, average number of drinks per occasion, and maximum number of drinks per occasion) across three time points (i.e., baseline, 4-weeks, and 12-weeks). Consistent with prior Project Options studies, participants with more drinking experience reported greater decreases in perception of peer drinking, intentions to drink next month, and all drinking behaviors than those with less experience. While no changes were observed in expectancies, first-generation participants endorsed lower positive use expectancies than second- and third-generation youth as well as more favorable cessation expectancies than third-generation teens. In concert with prior studies demonstrating the intervention's success in recruitment and retention of Latinx participants, results suggest that Project Options might be a promising school-based intervention for Latinx youth. This intervention has the potential to reach adolescents who might otherwise not participate in traditional programming and help decrease disparities in availability of evidence-based practices for Latinx youth.
Highlights
Latinx1 youth are currently the largest ethnic group under the age of 18 in the United States (U.S.), and by 2060 they will account for 31.9% of all underage children, representing one of the fastest growing groups in the country [1]
There were no differential condition style effects, given prior evidence for efficacy from the initial evidence-based interventions (EBIs) trials when compared with a no-treatment control condition [14, 16, 19] and the observed changes across time evidenced by the multi-site trial participants, we interpret the present multi-community findings to provide tentative support for the value of Project Options content as a school-based intervention for addressing alcohol use by Latinx youth
In combination with prior evaluations of engagement/retention [20] and therapeutic processes [21] of this multi-site hybrid efficacy-effectiveness clinical trial of Project Options, this secondary analysis cautiously suggests that this voluntary EBI might be a promising intervention for Latinx youth of different immigrant generations
Summary
Latinx youth are currently the largest ethnic group under the age of 18 in the United States (U.S.), and by 2060 they will account for 31.9% of all underage children, representing one of the fastest growing groups in the country [1]. While using alcohol and other substances is normative during adolescence [e.g., [2]], Latinx youth are at greater risk than their White counterparts to experience negative consequences [3, 4], less likely to have intervention services available [5], and less likely to complete treatment when enrolled [6]. Delivering evidence-based, culturally-responsive interventions for Latinx youth to address these disparities in service availability and utilization is a significant public health issue. The disparities in alcohol use and related consequences among Latinx youth are exacerbated by a dearth of culturally-responsive, evidence-based interventions (EBIs) and compounded by low service utilization. Given the high need for intervention services and the many barriers to treatment faced by Latinx youth [e.g., cost, transportation, time; [7]], additional consideration has been given to programming accessibility or reach.
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