Predictors of participation in a family-focused preventive intervention for substance use

This study reports patterns of involvement in a family-focused preventive intervention, Schools and Families Educating (SAFE) Children, targeting early predictors of risk for delinquency and drug use among 175 African American and Latino first-grade children living in economically disadvantaged inner-city neighborhoods. Three empirically derived patterns emerged: joiners, responders, and minimal responders. Joiners were immediately responsive and enthusiastic and participated fully. Responders attended fully only after extensive effort was made to recruit and retain them. However, once engaged, they attended fully and participated with enthusiasm. Minimal responders attended a few sessions sporadically even with extensive, ongoing effort to engage them. Ethnicity, marital status, parental antisocial behavior, economic and loss stressors, monitoring, and child's depression and hyperactivity were significant discriminators of group membership.