African American SFP Results
Rural African American SFP
The Alabama SFP program was implemented in Selma, AL, by the Cahaba Mental Health Center. In a quasi-experimental, CSAP-funded study involving a pretest, posttest, and 1-year followup, researchers compared low-drug-use families whose use was limited to alcohol with high-drug-use families that used both alcohol and illegal drugs. Sixty-two families participated in the program, and 51 families (82 percent) completed at least 12 of the 14 sessions. Pretest and posttest comparisons of the two experimental groups revealed significant reductions in family conflict in high-drug-use families and increased organization in low-drug-use families (Kumpfer, 1990, 1991a). One unexpected benefit of the family program was that even without substance abuse treatment, high-drug-use mothers significantly reduced their substance use as measured by a composite index of the quantity and frequency of alcohol and drug use over a 30-day period.
By the end of the program, the children of high-drug-use mothers were rated as significantly improved on both the internalizing and externalizing scales and on all subscales, except the subscale that measures communicativeness. Children of low-drug-use mothers improved only on the clinical scales for which they manifested relatively higher scores on the intake pretest, namely obsessive-compulsive behavior, aggression, and delinquency. These results suggested that SFP was effective in reducing maternal reports of children's problem behaviors when the children showed problems in the clinical or subclinical diagnostic range on the intake measures before the program began. SFP was equally effective with mothers of every education level in improving their parenting style and the behavior of their children.
Because this study used a quasi-experimental comparison group design without a randomly assigned, no-treatment control group, it is impossible to determine whether these positive results can be attributed to SFP participation. However, the results are consistent with the positive findings of other studies of diverse populations.
Urban African American SFP
The SFP for African American parents developed for the State of Alabama was modified for use in the 12-session Safe Haven Program in Detroit, MI (Kumpfer, Bridges, and Williams, 1993). Parents in substance abuse treatment were invited to volunteer for the program. Fifty-eight families met the program completion criteria of attending 10 of the 12 SFP sessions, and the average completion rate was 82 to 86 percent after 3 cohorts finished the program (Aktan, 1995). The results indicated that SFP had a significant positive impact on the participating families (Aktan, Kumpfer, and Turner, 1996), including a marked increase in family cohesion in the total sample and decreased family conflict in the low-drug-use sample. The families reported spending more time together and participating in more parent-child activities.
Parents reported decreases in drug use, depression, and use of corporal punishment and an increase in their perceived effectiveness as parents. According to parental reports, children's behavior problems decreased significantly in aggression and hyperactivity and approached a significant decrease in delinquency. Significant pretest to posttest improvements in other behavioral problems—school-related difficulties, general psychological and emotional problems, and more specific measures of depression, uncommunicativeness, obsessive-compulsive tendencies, social withdrawal, and schizoid tendencies—were found only among the children of high-drug-use parents. Parents in both the high- and low-drug-use groups reported that their children had more bonding experiences at school and spent more time on their homework. These parental reports matched trainer reports on behavioral improvements in the participating families.
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