Translating Longitudinal, Developmental Research With Rural African American Families Into Prevention Programs for Rural African American Youth

Abstract

AbstractIn this chapter, we describe the process through which adolescent development, ethnic minority status, and the context of rural poverty influenced an NICHD-funded program of research in which we identified the risk and protective processes forecasting rural African American youths’ developmental trajectories, then translated this research into an efficacious program to prevent alcohol use. The Strong African American Families (SAAF) program, a family-centered intervention for rural youth, was designed to capitalize on naturally occurring protective processes that buffer African American youth from poverty and other hardships that compromise positive development and promote behavior problems in rural communities. The process of translating longitudinal research findings into prevention programming was guided by the Institute of Medicine's prescriptions for prevention development.