Cross-cultural adaptation and evaluation of a home-based program for alcohol use prevention among urban youth: The "Slick Tracy home team program"

The current study describes the extensive cross-cultural adaptation of a brief home-based alcohol prevention program for racially and ethnically diverse sixth grade students and their families, using a randomized controlled trial design involving 60 public schools in the city of Chicago (N = 3,623 students). The adapted program achieved high participation levels (73%) overall, as well as in single parent families, non-English homes, and low-income students, among other at risk groups. Lower levels of factors associated with the onset of alcohol use (i.e., normative expectations and outcome expectations) were achieved in the intervention group compared to the control group. However, no differences were observed for several other protective factors or alcohol use. Editors' Strategic Implications: The experimental design, large sample, and specific adaptation of the program for an ethnically diverse urban population of children and their families provide a model for culturally appropriate prevention efforts. Further, the attitudinal results (and dose-response findings) of the Slick Tracy alcohol prevention program are promising.