Schedule:
Friday, January 15, 2016: 5:45 PM
Ballroom Level-Renaissance Ballroom West Salon B (Renaissance Washington, DC Downtown Hotel)
* noted as presenting author
Seth Schwartz, PhD, Research Associate Professor, University of Miami, Miami, FL
Jennifer Unger, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Southern California, Alhambra, CA
Lourdes Baezconde-Garbanati, PhD, MPH, Associate Professor, University of Miami, Los Angeles, CA
Juan Villamar, MSEd, Ce-PIM Executive Coordinator, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Daniel Soto, MPH, University of Southern California, Na, CA
Christopher P. Salas-Wright, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX
Miguel Cano, PhD, Assistant Professor, Florida International University, Miami, FL
Sabrina Des Rosiers, PhD, Assistant Professor, Barry University, Miami, FL
Elma Lorenzo-Blanco, Doctoral Candidate, University of South Carolina, Ann Arbor, MI
Brandy Piña-Watson, PhD, Assistant Professor – Counseling, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
Assaf Oshri, PhD, Assistant Professor, University of Georgia and University of Rochester, Athens, GA
Andrea Romero, PhD, Associate Professor, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ
Background and Purpose: Hispanic adolescents disproportionately engage in drug use and sexual risk behaviors, which increase thier risk for HIV/STI aquisition and transmission. Family functioning, includng parent support, parental monitoring of peers, parent-adolescent communication, and family communication, has been shown to play an important role in preventing and reducing drug use and sexual risk behaviors among Hispanic adolescents. However, few studies have examined discrepancies in parent-adolescent family functioning and their links to drug use and sexual risk behaviors over time. The purpose of this study was to examine (1) classes of parent-adolescent family functioning discrepancies trajectories, and (2) whether and to what extent these classes are associated with an increased risk of drug use and sexual risk behaviors.
Method: The data were drawn from a longitudinal study of substance use behaviors among Hispanic adolescents in Miami, Florida and Los Angeles, California. A sample of 302 Hispanic adolescents was assessed six times over a 3-year period. At each time point, parents and adolescents completed self-report measures to assess family functioning, and adolescents completed measures to assess recent drug use sexual risk behaviors. A latent class growth analysis was conducted to examine classes of parent-adolescent family functioning discrepancies trajectories, and whether and to what extent the probability of reporting drug use and sexual risk behaviors at last assessment varied by class.
Results: Latent class growth analysis yielded a three-class solution for family functioning (i.e., Low-Decreasing, High-Increasing, and Moderate-Stable). In general, relative to the High-Increasing class, the Moderate-Stable and Low-Decreasig classes were at increased risk for engaging in past 90-day and lifetime licit and illicit drug use, unprotected sex and early sex initiation.
Conclusions and Implications: Findings indicate that higher levels of family functioning, includng parent support, parental monitoiring of peers, parent-adolescent communication, and family communication, are associated with a decreased risk of drug use and sexual risk behaviors over time. Social work research aimed at developing a fuller understanding of trajectories of parent-adolescent family functioning discrepancies may help with identifying families who may be at increased risk of adolescent drug use and sexual risk behaviors. Findings may be helpful to inform family-based social work preventive interventions.
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