Effectiveness of a Brief Home Parenting Intervention for Reducing Early Sexual Risks Among Latino Adolescents: Salud y Éxito

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND Teen pregnancy rates and related risks remain elevated among Latino teens. We tested the impact on youth sexual behaviors of a brief, culturally targeted, bilingual media intervention designed for parents of young adolescents. METHODS Salud y éxito (Health & Success) uses dramatic audio stories to model positive parenting practices. After completing classroom surveys, 27 urban schools in the Northeast and Southwest serving low‐income Latino communities were randomized so that all families of seventh grade students were sent either: (1) booklets on healthy eating and exercise; (2) Salud‐50, where families either received booklets or the intervention, or (3) Salud‐100, where all families received the intervention. Postintervention follow‐up surveys were conducted at 3‐ and 12‐months. Multilevel analyses tested intervention effects, controlling for sociodemographics. RESULTS Compared with controls, at 12‐months postintervention (8th grade spring), youth in Salud‐100 report lower sexual risks (touching, AOR 1.46, CI 1.19‐0.84, p