Familias Unidas: Preventing Substance Abuse in Hispanic Youth

The focus of this study will be to test the Familias Unidas Intervention program among Hispanic 8th graders in the Miami-Dade County Public School System. This study will contribute to the advancement of knowledge in both the scientific community and the Hispanic population in Miami-Dade County. It will shed light on whether and to what extent Familias Unidas is effective in preventing drug use and unsafe sexual behavior in Hispanic adolescents. To the scientific community, the investigators will disseminate our findings via peer-reviewed publications and presentations at scientific meetings. The design for the proposed study is a randomized controlled trial. This design is considered the "gold standard" design when evaluating the efficacy of two (or more) treatment conditions. Participants for this study will be 744 Hispanic 8th grade adolescents and their parents recruited from 24 randomly selected middle schools in Miami Dade County that meet the school inclusion/exclusion criteria. A total of 12 schools (for a total of 372 Hispanic adolescents and their parents) will be randomized to Familias Unidas and a total of 12 schools (for a total of 372 Hispanic adolescents and their parents) will be randomized to the Community Practice.