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When to Intervene: Elementary School, Middle School or Both? Effects of keepin’ It REAL on Substance Use Trajectories of Mexican Heritage Youth

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Abstract

This article presents the findings of a study exploring two questions: What age is most efficacious to expose Mexican heritage youth to drug abuse prevention interventions, and what dosage of the prevention intervention is needed? These issues are relevant to Mexican heritage youth—many from immigrant families—in particular ways due to the acculturation process and other contextual factors. The study utilized growth curve modeling to investigate the trajectory of recent substance use (alcohol, cigarettes, marijuana, inhalants) among Mexican heritage students (N = 1,670) participating in the keepin’ it REAL drug prevention program at different developmental periods: the elementary school (5th grade), middle school (7th grade), or both. The findings provide no evidence that intervening only in elementary school was effective in altering substance use trajectories from 5th to 8th grade, either for licit nor illicit substances. Implementing keepin’ it REAL in middle school alone altered the trajectories of use of all four substances for Mexican heritage youth. A double dose of prevention, in elementary and middle school proved to be equally as effective as intervening in 7th grade only, and only for marijuana and inhalants. The decrease in use of marijuana and inhalants among students in the 7th-grade-only or the 5th- and 7th-grade interventions occurred just after students received the curriculum intervention in 7th grade. These results are interpreted from an ecodevelopmental and culturally specific perspective and recommendations for prevention and future research are discussed.

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Acknowledgements

Data analysis was supported by the National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (P20MD002316-02, F. F. Marsiglia, P.I.). The data were collected with support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (R-24 DA 13937-01 and R01 DA005629-09A2). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, or the National Institutes of Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Social Work, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Flavio F. Marsiglia & Elizabeth Coleman

  2. Sociology Program, School of Social and Family Dynamics, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA

    Stephen Kulis & Scott T. Yabiku

  3. Sociology Department, University of California, Riverside, CA, USA

    Tanya A. Nieri

  4. Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center, Arizona State University, Mail Code 4320, 411 N. Central Avenue, Suite 720, Phoenix, AZ, 85004-0693, USA

    Flavio F. Marsiglia

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  1. Flavio F. Marsiglia
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Correspondence to Flavio F. Marsiglia.

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Marsiglia, F.F., Kulis, S., Yabiku, S.T. et al. When to Intervene: Elementary School, Middle School or Both? Effects of keepin’ It REAL on Substance Use Trajectories of Mexican Heritage Youth. Prev Sci 12, 48–62 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11121-010-0189-y

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