Harnessing technology to prevent sexual assault on college campuses.

The current global pandemic has presented an opportunity to rethink how universities implement sexual assault prevention programs. The advantages and capabilities presented by technology such as digital gaming have not been fully utilized in sexual assault prevention programming. A user-centered design approach gives developers the opportunity to truly engage students in a learning process; a critical thinking required to explore sexual assault and contributing factors in a meaningful way. Digital gaming presents an active learning experience that engages students in a method of learning they may be more familiar with, and may actually prefer. By using digital gaming, sexual assault prevention can remain effective and accessible no matter the social and environmental circumstances.

Agarra el momento/seize the moment: Developing communication activities for a drug prevention intervention with and for Latino families in the US Southwest.

This article presents the development of parent-child communication activities by applying Community-Based Participatory Research and focus group methodology. Three parent-child communication activities were developed to enhance an already efficacious parenting intervention: (1) agarra el momento or seize the moment uses everyday situations to initiate conversations about substance use, (2) hay que adelantarnos or better sooner than later stresses being proactive about addressing critical issues with youth, and (3) setting rules and expectations engages parents in establishing rules and expectations for healthy and effective conversations with youth. Focus group data are presented to illustrate how thematic content from the focus groups was used to inform the development of the activities and, furthermore, how such methods supported the development of a culturally grounded intervention.

Unintended Effects of an Intervention Supporting Mexican-Heritage Youth: Decreased Parent Heavy Drinking.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the impact of a parenting intervention, Familias: Preparando la Nueva Generación (FPNG), intended to support children, on parents heavy drinking. We hypothesized that parent participants of FPNG would reduce their heavy drinking at 1-year follow-up. METHODS: Parents (N = 281) of middle school children from a large, low-income metropolitan area in the Southwest United States participated in a randomized control trial over 2 years. RESULTS: A logistic regression analysis using the maximum likelihood test determined that at Wave 3, parents receiving FPNG reduced heavy drinking behaviors compared to parents in the youth-only condition (odds ratio = .86, p < .05). CONCLUSIONS: Participating in the parenting program can effectively curb heavy drinking behaviors in parents-an important mechanism through which one may expect changes in youth risk behavior. The practice, policy, and research implications of these unintended findings are promising to the overall effectiveness of a parenting intervention for Mexican-heritage families.

Acculturation and Life Satisfaction Among Immigrant Mexican Adults.

The numbers of Mexican Americans living in the United States, many of whom are first generation immigrants, are increasing. The process of immigration and acculturation can be accompanied by stress, as an individual attempts to reconcile two potentially competing sets of norms and values and to navigate a new social terrain. However, the outcomes of studies investigating the relationship between levels of acculturation and well-being are mixed. To further investigate the dynamic of acculturation, this article will address the impact of acculturation and familismo, on reported life satisfaction and resilience among Mexican American adults living in the Southwest (N=307), the majority (89%) of which are immigrants. The findings indicate that bilingual individuals report significantly higher levels of life satisfaction and resilience than their Spanish-speaking counterparts do. Speaking primarily English only predicted higher levels of resilience but not life satisfaction. Implications for social work practice with Mexican American immigrants are discussed.