Family Mediation Program For At-Risk Youth

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The goal of this project is to conduct a pilot evaluation of a parent-child mediation program for at-risk youth. It is investigating whether families who receive parent-child mediation show greater improvement in family functioning, as well as adolescent substance use, academic performance, and delinquency, over a 6-week and 12-week period compared to a wait-list control sample.

Official Title
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Family Mediation Program For At-Risk Youth

Conditions
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Family Functioning

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Families Able To Resolve Situations (FARS)


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Has a child referred to FARS due to having problems in any of the following areas: (a) poor grades; (b) truancy; (c) defiant behavior; (d) running away; (e) delinquency; (f) substance use Agrees to participate in at least one FARS mediation session Agrees to complete 3 surveys and be available over the next 3 months for follow-up Fluent in English or Spanish - Exclusion Criteria: Families referred to FARS due to: (a) conflicts involving gang violence (e.g., shootings, killings); (b) conflicts involving weapons; (c) arson; (d) conflicts involving explicit sex activities; (e) conflicts involving domestic violence/child abuse; and (f) threats to harm self or others. -

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 12 Years
Maximum Age: 19 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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No

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Family Mediation<br>Families receive FARS family mediation program after completing baseline survey. | Behavioral: Families Able To Resolve Situations (FARS)<br>* Family mediation is a method of resolving conflicts between parents and teens. During the mediation session, the parent and teen each meet one-on-one with a trained volunteer mediator, who is a neutral person who listens to each party's concerns without taking sides. Then the parent and teen come together and meet with this mediator to work on resolving conflicts they are having. Families participate in up to 3 mediation sessions.<br>|
| No Intervention: Wait-list control<br>Families receive FARS family mediation program after completing baseline, 6-week and 12-week surveys. | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Positive Family Relations | 6-item Positive Family Relations measure adapted from the Cohesion subscale of Moos & Moos Family Environment Scale (Metzler et al., 1998; Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 600-619). Items are rated on a 5-point scale (not at all to very much) and averaged to create a scale score. | 6-week | 
| Family Conflict | 5-item measure from the Family, Friends and Self (FFS) assessment scales (Simpson & McBride, 1992; Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 14, 327-340). Items are rated on a 5-point scale (never to almost always) and averaged to create a scale score. | 6-week | 
| Family Communication | 10-item measure assessing open vs. problem communication (McCubbin, Thompson & McCubbin, 1996; Family assessment: Resiliency, coping and adaptation - Inventories for research and practice. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin). Items are rated on a 5-point scale (never to almost always) and averaged to create a scale score. | 6-week | 
| Parent Support | 4-item measure (Wills et al., 2004; Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 18, 122-134). Items are rated on a 5-point scale (never to almost always) and averaged to create a scale score. | 6-week | 
| Positive Family Relations | 6-item Positive Family Relations measure adapted from the Cohesion subscale of Moos & Moos Family Environment Scale (Metzler et al., 1998; Journal of Family Psychology, 12, 600-619). Items are rated on a 5-point scale (not at all to very much) and averaged to create a scale score. | 12-week | 
| Family Conflict | 5-item measure from the Family, Friends and Self (FFS) assessment scales (Simpson & McBride, 1992; Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 14, 327-340). Items are rated on a 5-point scale (never to almost always) and averaged to create a scale score. | 12-week | 
| Family Communication | 10-item measure assessing open vs. problem communication (McCubbin, Thompson & McCubbin, 1996; Family assessment: Resiliency, coping and adaptation - Inventories for research and practice. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin). Items are rated on a 5-point scale (never to almost always) and averaged to create a scale score. | 12-week | 
| Parent Support | 4-item measure (Wills et al., 2004; Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 18, 122-134). Items are rated on a 5-point scale (never to almost always) and averaged to create a scale score. | 12-week | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Lifetime and Past Month Substance Use | Number of times used in lifetime (range: 0 times to 7 or more times) and number of days used in past month (range: 0 days to 20-30-days) for each of the following substances: cigarettes; alcohol; marijuana; inhalants; any other illegal drug or pill to get high; over-the-counter medicines or OTCs to get high; and prescription medicines to get high. Additional items ask about quantity of cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use on days used, as well as intentions to use each of these substances in next 6 months (4-point scale, ranging from definitely yes to definitely no). | 6-week | 
| Academic Performance | Items ask about typical grades in past month (range: mostly A's to mostly F's), school attachment (4-item measure from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), highest level of school the youth plans to finish (range: I may not finish high school to I plan to go to graduate or professional school), number of days skipped school in past month, and history of suspension from school. | 6-week | 
| Delinquency | 13-item measure that includes items from Project ALERT and National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Items are rated on a 7-point scale (0 days to 20-30 days). | 6-weeks | 
| Lifetime and Past Month Substance Use | Number of times used in lifetime (range: 0 times to 7 or more times) and number of days used in past month (range: 0 days to 20-30-days) for each of the following substances: cigarettes; alcohol; marijuana; inhalants; any other illegal drug or pill to get high; over-the-counter medicines or OTCs to get high; and prescription medicines to get high. Additional items ask about quantity of cigarette, alcohol and marijuana use on days used, as well as intentions to use each of these substances in next 6 months (4-point scale, ranging from definitely yes to definitely no). | 12-week | 
| Academic Performance | Items ask about typical grades in past month (range: mostly A's to mostly F's), school attachment (4-item measure from National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health), highest level of school the youth plans to finish (range: I may not finish high school to I plan to go to graduate or professional school), number of days skipped school in past month, and history of suspension from school. | 12-week | 
| Delinquency | 13-item measure that includes items from Project ALERT and National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Items are rated on a 7-point scale (0 days to 20-30 days). | 12-weeks |