Elevated rates of risky behavior among Latino youth have been linked to features of acculturation such as discrepant rates of acculturation between parents and adolescents. This study examined how parent-adolescent mainstream and Mexican cultural gaps are differentially related to adolescent risky behavior through family conflict, parental…

This article provides an overview of some common challenges and opportunities related to cultural adaptation of behavioral interventions. Cultural adaptation is presented as a necessary action to ponder when considering the adoption of an evidence-based intervention with ethnic and other minority groups. It proposes a roadmap to choose existing…

Objectives: This article reports the effects of a culturally grounded parenting intervention to strengthen positive parenting practices. Method: The intervention was designed and tested with primarily Mexican origin parents in a large urban setting of the southwestern United States using an ecodevelopmental approach. Parents (N = 393) were…

Latinos are a multiracial ethnic group, and as such, within-group differences in ethnoracial appearance deserve to be studied and understood within the racialized American context and in connection to specific health and mental health outcomes. This article presents the findings of a study conducted with middle school Mexican heritage students (n…

Despite elevated levels of substance use among many Latino youths, there has been little research on protective factors against such use. In keeping with federal commitments to address health disparities, this prospective study examined the protective influence of religion on substance use among a school-based sample (N = 804) of youths of Mexican…

The purpose of this study was to assess the combined effects of ethnic identification and perceived parental monitoring on the substance use of a sample of 162 male and 192 female Mexican heritage seventh grade adolescents. Parental monitoring predicted lower risk for substance use. An interaction of ethnic identification by parental monitoring…

This study examined interactive relationships among ethnic identity, gender, time in the US, and changes in substance use outcomes among a school-based sample of 1,731 Mexican-heritage preadolescents (ages 9-13). Residual change multilevel models adjusting for school clustering and using multiply imputed data assessed changes from beginning to end…

This article examined the impact of linguistic acculturation and gender on the substance use initiation of a sample of 1,473 Mexican heritage preadolescents attending 30 public schools in Phoenix, Arizona. It was hypothesized that linguistic acculturation operates differently as a risk or protective factor for young children than for older youth.…

This article reports on the prevalence and frequency of use of a set of drug-resistance strategies among a sample of Mexican adolescents. The keepin' it REAL (refuse, explain, avoid, and leave) strategies are part of a model drug-prevention intervention program originally developed by and for youth in the United States. The present study tests the…

The authors describe the training model used to develop proficiency in teaching a culturally-grounded prevention curriculum. Teachers believed it vital to discuss substance use and considered culture and ethnicity central to students' lives, although few had experience teaching prevention curricula. Training effects were evaluated using three…

This study explores the extent to which parental and peer behaviors and norms may affect substance use, personal antidrug norms, and intentions to use drugs in a group of Mexican heritage preadolescents in the Southwest United States, and whether these parental and peer influences differ according to gender. Secondary data from a randomized trial…

This study sought to determine if exposure to two communication-oriented activities, videotapes and public service announcements, accounts for changes in substance use among adolescents participating in the Drug Resistance Strategies Project's keepin it REAL adolescent substance use prevention curriculum. Middle-school students (4,734, 72% Latino)…

This study examined whether the efficacy of "keepin' it REAL", a model program for substance use prevention in schools, was moderated by gender, ethnicity, and acculturation. Gender differences in program efficacy may arise through boys' higher risk of drug use, inadequate attention to girls' developmental issues, or cultural factors…

A randomized trial tested the efficacy of three curriculum versions teaching drug resistance strategies, one modeled on Mexican American culture; another modeled on European American and African American culture; and a multicultural version. Self-report data at baseline and 14 months post-intervention were obtained from 3,402 Mexican heritage…