Influence of choice and perception of need on participation in adolescent family based alcohol prevention programs

An NIAAA-funded longitudinal study to examine the role of choice in program recruitment, retention, completion and adolescent outcomes for AOD is currently being conducted in the San Francisco Bay Area. This presentation investigates whether providing parents with a choice in programs, perceived need for AOD prevention program, and/or demographics impact initial levels of participation in the prevention programs. Data presented in the abstract are based upon the first 182 families enrolled in the study. Eligibility requirements included enrollment in the HMO and the presence of an 11-12 year old child. Measures for these analyses are: participation (which was defined as completing one component of the program), whether families were assigned to a “choice” or random control condition, parental perception of need based on perceived risk of child ATOD behaviors, and family demographics (age, education, ethnicity, family composition, marital status, income). Results indicate that demographics (specifically, older, college educated white parents) were significantly and positively associated with participation. African-American parents were significantly less likely to participate. Parents, who were more accepting of children's alcohol experimentation, were significantly less likely to participate. Having a choice in determining the program, significantly increased participation. Multivariate analysis will be presented with complete enrollment data (N>600) for the final poster presentation. Understanding factors that influence family participation in adolescent family based alcohol prevention programs can assist in developing strategies to increase participation.