Evaluation of Culturally Informed and Flexible Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents (CIFFTA) implemented in community-based settings.

Effective family-based interventions are needed for youth who are experiencing emotional and behavioral difficulties and who are impacted by powerful environmental stressors. Culturally Informed and Flexible Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents (CIFFTA) is a manualized and evidence-based, multicomponent family-based treatment that has been shown to be efficacious in research settings. The purpose of this paper is to report on the effectiveness of implementing CIFFTA for the treatment of Latino and Black youth and families in community settings.

Comparing individually based and family-based treatments for internalizing, externalizing, and family symptoms in Latino youth.

Rigorous randomized trials that test promising culturally centered treatments for Latino youth and families are needed. This study adds to the knowledge base by comparing the efficacy of Culturally Informed and Flexible Family Treatment for Adolescents (CIFFTA) to an Individually Oriented Treatment-As-Usual (ITAU) in its ability to retain Latino youth and families in treatment, reduce internalizing and externalizing child symptoms, and improve family functioning. CIFFTA uses an adaptive/flexible approach to deliver individual therapy, family therapy, and psycho-educational modules tailored to each family's unique clinical and cultural characteristics.

Stress and Resilience: Key Correlates of Mental Health and Substance Use in the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth.

This study examined associations of immigrant generation, acculturation, and sources of stress and resilience with four outcomes-depression symptoms, anxiety symptoms, alcohol susceptibility, and smoking susceptibility. We used data from 1466 youth (ages 8-16) enrolled in the Hispanic Community Health Study of Latino Youth (SOL Youth), a probability sample of Hispanic/Latino youth living in Chicago (IL), Miami (FL), Bronx (NY), and San Diego (CA). We found no evidence of an immigrant paradox.

The Comorbidity of Psychiatric and Substance Use Disorders Among Hispanic Adolescents.

Objective: The comorbidity of psychiatric disorders and substance abuse disorders among adolescents and adults is well-documented in the literature. The current study investigates the relationship between psychiatric and substance use disorders in a sample of treatment-seeking Hispanic adolescents.

Methods: The study uses baseline data (N = 190) from a randomized control trial testing the effectiveness of a family-based treatment for Hispanic adolescents with substance abuse disorder to examine the relationship between psychiatric disorders and substance use patterns at baseline, including types of substances used (both lifetime use and past-month use) and age at onset of substance use, controlling for age and gender.

Computer Informed and Flexible Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents: A Randomized Clinical Trial for at-Risk Racial/Ethnic Minority Adolescents.

Family interventions have been shown to be effective for adolescents with behavior problems. Current literature supports both adaptive treatments and technology-assisted interventions as highly promising innovations for treating at-risk adolescents. The purpose of this investigation was to develop and test the efficacy of a computer-assisted version of an established office-based multicomponent family therapy.

A Latent Profile Analysis Investigating Factors Impacting Latino Adolescents' Attendance in Treatment.

In this study, we examined data from 200 families to investigate whether family functioning and adolescent psychiatric symptomatology were associated with differential attendance in a family-based or individually focused intervention for Latino adolescents. Latent profile analysis was used to identify families, and regression models were used to examine whether profiles exhibited differential attendance. Overall, three latent profiles were observed.

Psychiatric Symptoms, Parental Attachment, and Reasons for Use as Correlates of Heavy Substance Use Among Treatment-Seeking Hispanic Adolescents.

Unlabelled: In early adolescence, Hispanics self-report higher drug use rates compared to White and African American peers. Among adolescent users, heavy users have more negative behavioral and health consequences. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to examine whether psychiatric symptoms, parental attachment, and reasons for use predict heavy alcohol and illicit drug use (more than 10 times in the past three months) among Hispanic adolescents.

Trauma in Hispanic youth with psychiatric symptoms: Investigating gender and family effects.

Objective: Hispanic youth in the general community experience traumatic events and display symptoms of psychological distress more frequently than do Caucasian youth. However, little is known about how traumatic experiences in this ethnic minority population relate to psychopathology in clinical samples and whether these outcomes vary by gender and are impacted by family functioning. We hypothesized that traumatic stress reactions, including posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and internalizing and externalizing symptoms, would vary by gender and by family functioning in a clinical sample of Hispanic youth.

Structure of Problem Recognition Questionnaire with Hispanic/Latino Adolescents.

Motivation is a prominent target for substance use interventions because it is theorized to increase engagement in therapy and predict treatment outcomes. Establishing the validity of measures relevant to motivation among Hispanic/Latino adolescents will improve the resources available for screening and measuring change processes in a multicultural population. We examined the structure of the Problem Recognition Questionnaire (PRQ; Cady, Winters, Jordan, Solberg, & Stinchfield, 1996) with Hispanic/Latino adolescents.

A process-oriented analysis of parent acculturation, parent socio-cultural stress, family processes, and Latina/o youth smoking and depressive symptoms.

Latina/o youth in the U.S. are often characterized by elevated rates of cigarette smoking and depressive symptoms, and these rates appear to vary by youth acculturation and socio-cultural stress.

The efficacy of two adolescent substance abuse treatments and the impact of comorbid depression: results of a small randomized controlled trial.

Objective: The purpose of this randomized trial was to investigate the efficacy of 2 behavioral treatments focusing on different change mechanisms in ameliorating a borderline personality disorder constellation of behaviors and substance use in adolescents referred by juvenile diversion programs.

Methods: Forty adolescents 14-17 years of age and meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.) criteria for borderline personality disorder and substance use disorders were randomized to integrative borderline personality disorder-oriented adolescent family therapy (I-BAFT) or individual drug counseling.

Theoretical foundations of the Study of Latino (SOL) Youth: implications for obesity and cardiometabolic risk.

Purpose: This article describes the conceptual model developed for the Hispanic Community Health Study/Study of Latino Youth, a multisite epidemiologic study of obesity and cardiometabolic risk among U.S. Hispanic/Latino children.

Engagement, retention, and abstinence for three types of opioid users in Florida.

Prescription opioid use has grown rapidly, but few studies examined whether users have similar treatment responses as heroin users. Participants were 1,648 opioid users in Florida Access to Recovery (2004-2007). Participants engaged in methadone or buprenorphine maintenance had better retention than those in nonmaintenance treatment.

Beyond acculturation: an investigation of the relationship of familism and parenting to behavior problems in Hispanic youth.

In the adolescent research literature, acculturation processes have been linked to the development of serious behavior problems in Hispanic adolescents, but not enough is known about how that process takes place. This article reports an investigation that sought to shed light on empirically plausible mechanisms by which family processes (i.e.

Bridging Diversity and Family Systems: Culturally Informed and Flexible Family Based Treatment for Hispanic Adolescents.

There is growing interest in identifying interventions that have been tested and found efficacious with minority families. This interest is fueled in part by the growth of Hispanics in the U.S.

Preliminary results for an adaptive family treatment for drug abuse in Hispanic youth.

A small randomized trial investigated a new family-based intervention for Hispanic adolescents who met DSM-IV criteria for substance abuse disorder. The Culturally Informed and Flexible Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents (CIFFTA) is a tailored/adaptive intervention that includes a flexible treatment manual and multiple treatment components. The study used an "add on" design to isolate the effects on substance abuse, behavior problems, and parenting practices attributable to the newly developed components.

Culturally informed and flexible family-based treatment for adolescents: a tailored and integrative treatment for Hispanic youth.

The increasing utilization of evidence-based treatments has highlighted the need for treatment development efforts that can craft interventions that are effective with Hispanic substance abusing youth and their families. The list of evidence-based treatments is extremely limited in its inclusion of interventions that are explicitly responsive to the unique characteristics and treatment needs of young Hispanics and that have been rigorously tested with this population. Some treatments that have been tested with Hispanics do not articulate the manner in which cultural characteristics and therapy processes interact.

Communication About Sexually-Related Topics Among Hispanic Substance-Abusing Adolescents and Their Parents.

Hispanic adolescents have been shown to have high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections and HIV, and substance abuse has been linked to risky sexual behaviors. The literature indicates that good parent-adolescent communication about sexual risk and safe sexual behaviors may help protect youth, yet little is known about this type of communication in Hispanic families. This article reports data on adolescent and parent factors associated with communication about moral and birth control talk between 108 Hispanic substance abusing adolescents and their parents.

Drug abuse in African American and Hispanic adolescents: culture, development, and behavior.

An understanding of African American and Hispanic adolescent drug abuse occurs at the intersection of context, development, and behavior. The focus of this review is on the impact of racial/ethnic culture as one of the important contexts that influence adolescent development toward or away from prosocial behaviors. Because family plays a major role in both African American and Hispanic cultures, it is also a centerpiece of any discussion of adolescent development in these groups.

Brief strategic family therapy: lessons learned in efficacy research and challenges to blending research and practice.

In this article, we present key lessons that we have learned from (1) a long program of research on an empirically supported treatment, brief strategic family therapy (BSFT), and (2) our ongoing research and training efforts related to transporting BSFT to the front lines of practice. After briefly presenting the rationale for working with the family when addressing behavior problems and substance abuse in adolescent populations, particularly among Hispanic adolescents, we summarize key findings from our 30-year program of research. The article closes by identifying barriers to the widespread adoption of empirically supported treatments and by presenting current work within the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Clinical Trials Network that attempts to address these barriers and obstacles.

Psychiatric, Family, and Ethnicity-Related Factors That Can Impact Treatment Utilization Among Hispanic Substance Abusing Adolescents.

There is great significance to improving our understanding of predictors of treatment utilization among Hispanic substance abusing youth. One hundred and ten Hispanic substance abusing adolescents and their parents participated in a study of treatment utilization. Analyses showed that adolescents with lower numbers of externalizing disorders (χ = 4.

Addressing immigration-related separations in Hispanic families with a behavior-problem adolescent.

This article presents specialized family therapy intervention strategies for Hispanic families with behavior-problem adolescents who have experienced an immigration-related separation. Such specialized interventions correspond to a philosophy of customized treatment delivery for Hispanic families. Interactional and cognitive/affective features are presented, and guidelines for building therapeutic alliances, identifying core family processes/themes, and transforming interactions are offered.

Efficacy of brief strategic family therapy in modifying Hispanic adolescent behavior problems and substance use.

This study investigated the efficacy of brief strategic family therapy (BSFT) with Hispanic behavior problem and drug using youth, an underrepresented population in the family therapy research literature. One hundred twenty-six Hispanic families with a behavior problem adolescent were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions: BSFT or group treatment control (GC). Results showed that, compared to GC cases, BSFT cases showed significantly greater pre- to post-intervention improvement in parent reports of adolescent conduct problems and delinquency, adolescent reports of marijuana use, and observer ratings and self reports of family functioning.