Preparing for the drug free years: Session-specific effects of a universalparent-training intervention with rural families

Like their urban counterparts, adolescents from rural areas are at risk for health and behavior problems, including alcohol and ether drug use. This s tudy tested the effects on parenting practices of specific sessions of a pa rent-training intervention, preparing for the Drug Free Years, designed to prevent adolescent substance abuse and other problem behaviors. Two hundred and nine rural families were randomly assigned to an intervention or a wai t-list control condition. Analyses of covariance comparing adjusted posttes t scores revealed that parents in the intervention condition reported signi ficant improvements in parenting behaviors targeted by specific interventio n sessions when compared with controls. Effects were most pronounced among mothers. No significant effects were found for nontargeted parenting behavi ors, and targeted behaviors were most improved among parents attending rele vant program sessions. These results strengthen the interval validity of th e study and increase the plausibility that reported improvements were due t o the intervention.