Effects of A Family-Based Program for Reducing Risk for Youth Alcohol Use in Mexico

Youth alcohol use (AU) is a major global health problem. Tomando Buenas Decisiones (TBD), an adapted family-based prevention program based on the existing Guiding Good Choices program, was piloted and tested in Zacatecas, Mexico. We examined the effects of the TBD program on reducing family risk for youth AU. We used a quasi-experimental design comprising a sample of 268 parents with children 8 to 16 years. All participants were working actively in one of five Zacatecan private companies. Inverse probability weighting based on intervention status, along with censoring propensity scores, was used to estimate the difference in risk levels between intervention participants and wait-listed controls. Latent growth curve modeling was used to analyze the intervention impact on three first-order risk factors (i.e., positive attitudes for drug use, family conflict, poor family management) and a combined measure of general family risk (i.e., a second-order factor using the three first-order risk factors) at baseline, post-intervention, and 3-month follow-up. Relative to wait-listed controls, the TBD program was efficacious in reducing positive attitudes for drug use, family conflict, poor family management, and general family risk levels. However, at the 3-month follow-up, effects on positive attitudes toward drug use were no longer significant. Findings from this study address a gap in establishing efficacious preventive interventions for youth AU in Latin America. We anticipate that our study’s findings could help inform prevention efforts to reduce leading youth alcohol-related harms such as drunk driving, and domestic violence among Mexican adolescents and their families.