Development of a mental health preventive intervention for Latina adolescents

Few school-based preventive interventions exist addressing adolescent mental health and none to my knowledge exist specifically for Latino females. Building on existing evidence of what adolescents need generally (e.g., healthy youth development and resilience models) and what works in preventive interventions targeting Latino youth (e.g., work of Pantin and Dishion identifies core components including being school-based, family-centric, and multi-leveled), I have developed a preventive intervention addressing the coping and mental health of Latina adolescents. The intervention has three core components: a facilitated girls' group, a parent outreach program, and a mother-daughter civic engagement project. Each of the three has been independently piloted, and I have evidence to support the feasibility of the complete intervention model. The girls' group has been piloted in a RCT and effect data are being analyzed. There are, however, challenges that need to be addressed in the development of a competitive R01 study proposal. For example, reasonable exclusion criteria have been elusive. Also, selection of outcome measures has been difficult to narrow down such that measures can reflect changes or effects of a preventive intervention. Finally, I hope to use objective data measurement. The practicality of implementing these measures, including reactive salivary cortisol, has been demonstrated with difficulty in my pilot work yet I welcome insights as to the appropriateness of this measure, and others (e.g., video recorded family communication task). This opportunity to present my study ideas and gain feedback and insights from successfully funded preventive researchers in mental health is valuable, and needed.