Family-Centered Prevention Buffers The Effect Of Financial Strain On Parenting Interactions, Reducing Youth Conduct Problems In African American Families

Objective: This study examined whether a family-focused prevention program for African American families could buffer the negative effect of perceived financial strain on protective parent-child interactions and thereby reduce the indirect effect of financial strain on youth conduct problems. Method: Three hundred and forty-six African American couples with an early adolescent child (M-age = 10.9 years at Wave 1 [W1]) participated. Families were randomly assigned to the Protecting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF) prevention program or to a no-treatment control condition and provided data prerandomization (W1) and postintervention, Wave 2 (W2), 9.4 months after W1. Youth and both parents reported family financial strain at W1 and protective parent-child interactions at W1 and W2. Youth reported their conduct problems at W1 and W2. Hypotheses were tested using moderated mediation analyses. Results: ProSAAF significantly moderated the negative effect of youth-reported financial strain on changes in protective parenting interactions such that financial strain was not significantly associated with changes in protective parenting among the intervention group, thus reducing the indirect effect of financial strain on increases in youth conduct problems among this group. Parent-reported financial strain was not significantly associated with changes in protective parenting in either condition, precluding the potential for stress buffering intervention effects. Conclusions: The ProSAAF prevention program buffered the negative effect of youth-reported financial strain on protective parenting interactions and reduced its indirect effect on youth conduct problems. These findings suggest that family-focused prevention has the potential to promote resilience among African American youth perceiving family financial strain.