Targeted interventions for violence among Latinx youth: A systematic review

A systematic review was conducted in order to assess the effectiveness of current community, school, and family-based violence prevention interventions targeted toward Latinx youth. The reviewers investigated how existing interventions decrease violence exposure, perpetuation, and externalizing behaviors among Latinx youth. Criteria for inclusion in the review and search terms were identified and agreed upon by two independent reviewers. The reviewers searched PsycINFO, Eric, and PsychArticles using detailed search terms relevant to the review's topic. A total of nine articles were included in the review and summarized narratively. Interventions were grouped and compared to one another in order to determine the most efficacious treatment method. One community-based treatment, five school-based treatments, and three family-based treatments were analyzed. There was not one level of targeted intervention that resulted in more successful violence prevention among Latinx youth as compared to other targeted levels. The reviewers concluded that there is a need for increased quality studies conducted in this area of research as well as interventions that incorporate all three levels of influence.