The PDFY curriculum is guided theoretically by the social development model, which emphasizes the role of bonding to family, school, and peers in healthy adolescent development. The model specifies that strong bonding to positive influences reduces the probability of delinquency and other problem behaviors. Bonding to the family, according to the model, involves three critical factors:

• The extent to which positive opportunities for involvement in the family are available to the child.

• The skills with which the child participates in the family to complete tasks, solve problems, and interact with others.

• The rewards and punishments provided by parents for behaviors that conform to or violate the family expectations and beliefs.

Guided by this social development model, PDFY seeks to reduce adolescent drug abuse and behavioral problems by:

• Increasing opportunities for involvement and interaction between parents and children.

• Teaching parents and children skills to help them resist peer pressure and refuse to engage in inappropriate behavior.

• Increasing rewards for prosocial behavior through parents' consistent and contingent family management.

• Managing and reducing family conflict.