Research Projects at CFR
Center for Contextual Genetics and Prevention Science (CGAPS)
Principal Investigator: Gene Brody
Funding Agencies: NIDA
Year Project Began: 2009
In what ways does the unique genetic makeup of an individual combine with the social context in which he or she lives to determine drug use and sexual risk tendencies?
CGAPS is a Core Center of Excellence funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse. The overall mission of CGAPS is to gain a better understanding of the development of drug use and sexual risk behavior among children, adolescents, and young adults. Most of the research about these important public health concerns has focused solely on the environmental contexts in which youth spend time: families, peer groups, neighborhoods, and schools. Social scientists have generated an impressive body of research that describes the ways in which these important influences either deter or create risks for youth drug abuse and sexual risk behavior. An important dimension, however, is missing, one that is critical for understanding why some youth abstain from risk behavior altogether, others engage in occasional risk behavior, and some develop serious problems that can lead to substance abuse and sexually transmitted infections including HIV. The missing dimension is each youth’s unique genetic makeup. Currently, the ways in which an individual’s unique genetic makeup combine with the social context in which he or she lives to determine drug use and sexual risk tendencies are not well understood. We hope that the research that CGAPS sponsors will provide greater insight into this complex interplay and, in turn, influence prevention models currently used to deter involvement with drugs and sexual risk behavior. To learn more, please visit www.cgaps.uga.edu.
Adults in the Making Project (AIM)
Principal Investigator: Gene Brody
Funding Agencies: NIDA and W. T. Grant Foundation
Year Project Began: 2004
How can parents and other supportive adults help African American teens make a positive transition to adulthood?
AIM is a federally funded research study designed to evaluate the effectiveness of a 6-week, family-based program created to support African American teens in their positive transition to adulthood. In 2006, W. T. Grant Foundation provided additional funding to allow an exploration of the influence that supportive adults other than an adolescent's parents might have on the transition to adulthood. In this clinical trial, families were randomly assigned to participate in one of three conditions: (1) the family-based treatment, (2) the family-based treatment plus a 1-day workshop for supportive adults other than parents, or (3) a control condition. Substance use is the key outcome under study
Strong African American Families Community Dissemination Model Project
Principal Investigator: Gene Brody
Funding Agencies: National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
Year Project Began: 2009
Can the SAAF program be successfully implemented via the Cooperative Extension Service?
The SAAF CDM Project represents a partnership between the Center for Family Research and the Cooperative Extension Service for the purpose of testing a model for disseminating the Strong African American Families (SAAF) Program. The partnership with Cooperative Extension will allow the model to be used within an organization that already disseminates evidence-based programs, is a strong presence in communities, and has an established institutionalized mechanism for ongoing training and technical assistance. This collaboration, SAAF-CDM Project, will make the SAAF Program available to rural African American families living in South Georgia while testing the model’s effectiveness in engaging participants, delivering the program, rendering positive outcomes, and sustaining the engagement of the implementation team over a three year time period.
The SAAF CDM Project will involve delivering the SAAF Program to over 500 African American 7th graders and their caregivers living in eight counties: Coffee, Colquitt, Crisp, Mitchell, Sumter, Tift, Turner and Ware.
Strong African American Families Project (SAAF)
Principal Investigator: Gene Brody
Funding Agency: NIAAA
Year Project Began: 1999
How can parents and communities help preadolescents to make positive choices as they gain increasing autonomy throughout adolescence?
In 1999, CFR received funds to develop and test a family-based prevention program for rural African American preadolescents and their primary caregivers. Based on more than 10 years of research conducted at the University of Georgia and Iowa State University with African American families, the curriculum was developed under the leadership of Dr. Virginia Molgaard of Iowa State. Cultural relevance was a priority; it was ensured via a series of meetings in which African American parents and youth provided feedback on the curriculum. The result was SAAF, a 7-week family-based program designed to help 11- and 12-year-olds make positive choices as they enter adolescence. Parents and youth meet separately for 1 hour, then work together for another hour in family groups to apply their new skills. More than 600 families participated in this clinical trial. As of July 2008, six of the numerous planned follow-up assessments have been conducted, and positive effects of the program continue to be found three years after participation. The SAAF curriculum is now available for use by community organizations, government agencies, and church groups.
The Family and Community Health Study (FACHS)
Principal Investigators: Ronald Simons (UGA), Carolyn Cutrona (ISU), Frederick Gibbons (Dartmouth University), Robert Philibert (University of Iowa)
Funding Agencies: NIMH, NIDA, Centers for Disease Control
Year Project Began: 1995
How do family, community, and genetic influences affect well-being among middle-aged African American women? (Cutrona)
How do these influences affect well-being among African American teens as they make the transition to adulthood? (Gibbons)
What factors influence the development of depression and antisocial behavior among African American young adults? (Simons)
What genetic and gene-environment interaction factors contribute to the development of depression, substance use, and other health problems among African American women? (Philibert)
FACHS is a large-scale longitudinal study involving more than 800 rural African American families in Iowa and Georgia. The initial criterion for study participation was the presence of a 9- or 10-year-old in the home. Throughout the first 10 years of the study, four assessments were conducted with these target youth and their primary caregivers, secondary caregivers, and older siblings. In 2004, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided supplementary funding to support exploration of community influences. In 2007, NIH provided 5 years of funding that will support additional data collection with the primary caregivers and their romantic partners, the older siblings, and with the target adolescents who are now emerging into adulthood (some of beginning families of their own), their close friends, and their romantic partners. During this project period, the study will also begin to focus on gene-environment interaction and its influence on participants' emotional and physical health.
FACHS at Iowa State University
Strong African American Healthy Adults Project (SHAPE)
Principal Investigator: Gene Brody
Funding Agencies: NICHD
Year Project Began: 2008
How does daily stress influence our health? That is the primary question undergirding this study of 400 young adult African Americans and their primary caregivers. The sample was originally recruited in 2000 when the target participants were 11-12 years old. Participants who choose to volunteer for the SHAPE study will conduct computerized interview assessments and also provide biological data (urine samples, height, weight, and blood pressure) in order to better understand the relationship between life experiences and health. With a focus on allostatic load - a measure of chronic physical wear and tear caused by the body's stress response in meeting environmental demands - the goal is to uncover clues about the origins of health disparities between Caucasian and African American populations.
The Connections Project
Principal Investigator: Steve Kogan
Funding Agencies: NIDA
Year Project Began: 2006
What health issues concern rural African American young adults?
Connections had a two-pronged purpose: (1) to explore various health issues that are relevant for rural African American adults after they have left the high school environment, and (2) to test a sampling strategy, Respondent Driven Sampling, that has been used with other difficult-to-reach populations. Data were collected from about 300 young adults between the fall of 2007 and winter of 2008. Participants completed a 90-minute questionnaire on a laptop computer and were later asked to refer up to three other people for participation. Data analyses are underway to explore the substantive and methodological questions of the study.
Program for Strong African American Marriage (ProSAAM)
Principal Investigator: Steven Beach
Funding Agencies: John Templeton Foundation and Administration for Children and Families
Year Project Began: 2005
Is ProSAAM, a program designed to strengthen African Americans' marriages, effective?
ProSAAM is a 3-year intervention study designed to find the best ways for African American couples to keep their relationships strong and to reach the goals they have set for themselves. It was also designed to evaluate the effectiveness of the program's educational curriculum, which is based on the Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP). The 500 couples who participated in ProSAAM were randomly assigned to a skills-based intervention group, an intercessory prayer plus skills-based intervention group, or a control group. The first group received the traditional PREP curriculum; the second group also received the PREP curriculum and were asked to pray for their partners; and the third group received a book.. As of July 2008, data analyses were underway to determine the program's effectiveness.
For more information, visit the ProSAAM website at http://www.uga.edu/prosaam/
Promoting Strong African American Families (ProSAAF)
Principal Investigator: Steven Beach
Funding Agencies: Administration for Children and Families
Year Project Began: 2006
Is ProSAAF, a program designed to strengthen both marriages and parenting skills among African American couples, effective?
Growing together as a couple is one of the greatest blessings and challenges in life. Although children are also a blessing, disagreements about parenting can be some of the most difficult for couples to resolve. ProSAAF is a 5-year research program designed to discover ways in which African American couples can strengthen their relationships and build on those strengths to enhance their parenting skills. This program will include 460 African American couples, 230 of whom will participate in the ProSAAF educational program. The six weekly sessions focus on relationship and parenting enrichment, with facilitators visiting and reviewing materials with participating couples. The other 230 couples will review written materials on their own without facilitator input. Data will be gathered from all participants to assess the benefits that participation affords.
For more information, visit the ProSAAF website at http://www.uga.edu/prosaaf
Healthy Families Georgia Program Evaluation
Principal Investigator: Gene Brody
Funding Agencies: Governor's Office for Children and Families
Year Project Began: 1999
Is the Healthy Families Georgia home visiting program effective in promoting positive parenting and preventing child abuse?
Healthy Families Georgia (HFG) is part of the national Healthy Families America initiative. This home visitation program is designed to help new parents adjust to their new role and learn how to provide safe, nurturing contexts for their children's growth. As part of a collaborative effort among the Governor's Office for Children and Families, Prevent Child Abuse Georgia, and communities throughout Georgia, HFG has been serving the needs of first-time parents at risk since 1993.
The Governor's Office for Children and Families contracted with CFR to conduct an ongoing evaluation of HFG. Outcome data have been collected since July 2000. The Healthy Families Georgia Information System (HFGIS) was developed by CFR staff and implemented in August 2003. Through this web-based database, both process and outcome data can be entered at the site level and stored in a central location at UGA. In addition to their ongoing management of HFGIS, CFR staff aggregate process and outcome data from the system to report periodically on statewide trends and provide an in-depth program evaluation focusing on the overall effectiveness of HFG.
The Rural African American Families Health Project (RAAFH)
Principal Investigator: Gene Brody
Funding Agency: NIDA
Year Project Began: 2006
Will a family-based program designed to support rural African American teens in making positive decisions and avoiding risky behaviors be effective?
RAAFH is a randomized clinical trial, involving approximately 500 families, that is being conducted in six counties in Georgia. Its purpose is to test the efficacy of the Strong African American Families–Teen (SAAF–T) program, a 5-week, family-based intervention designed to delay the onset of alcohol use and to prevent the use of illicit substances and engagement in risky sexual behaviors among rural African American adolescents. Posttest and long-term follow-up assessments from families who participate in SAAF–T will be compared with those of families assigned to an attention-control group, who participate in a program designed to enhance health and fitness.
African American Men’s Project (AMP)
Principal Investigator: Steve Kogan
Funding Agencies: NIDA
Year Project Began: 2010
What factors influence the successes and challenges of young adult, African American men?
AMP is a survey project that gives young black men the opportunity to respond to questions about the experiences that shape their lives and about the challenges they face. The understanding gained from AMP will be used to develop programs to support and empower young African American men. Five hundred men from 19 to 22 years of age will be recruited to complete 3 surveys over the next 4 years. The participants will be recruited from the following South Georgia counties: Sumter, Crisp, Turner, Tift, Colquitt, Mitchell, Cook, Coffee, Ware, Dooly, Ben Hill, Irwin, Atkinson, and Berrien.
