Urban Women Against Substance Abuse

Urban Women Against Substance Abuse (UWASA) is a school-based program targeting Puerto Rican, Latina, African-American, and Caribbean-American girls (ages 9-11) and their female caregivers. UWASA is theoretically grounded in social learning theory, which suggests a strong connection between certain risk factors (such as juvenile drug-abuse violations and high teen-birthrates) and the absence of positive female role models within a young girl's immediate family, community, and culture. The program is composed of a curriculum-based intervention for preadolescent girls, a parallel curriculum for mothers, monthly mother-daughter sharing sessions, recreational and cultural activities, and culturally appropriate art projects. A variety of support and referral services, such as home visits and regular telephone contact, are also provided to participants on an as-needed basis.

The goal of UWASA is to teach girls to build their cultural and gender identity, discourage alcohol and drug use, promote HIV awareness, and explore possible career options.

The program had a positive and significant effect on the girls' knowledge about HIV/AIDS. Treatment girls maintained the same level of healthy substance use attitudes throughout the 18-month intervention while the comparison group experienced a noticeable deterioration in both use and attitudes, falling below the baseline at the 18-month follow-up. The level of participation in the intervention had an effect on sexual self-efficacy. Girls who attended 20 percent or less of the intervention were least likely to see themselves as able to refrain from sexual intercourse if they were in a romantic relationship. Girls who participated in 20 to 50 percent of the program activities were most likely to see themselves as avoiding sexual activity under the same circumstances. Mother-daughter communication was the single most important variable associated with intermediate and final outcomes, confirming the theoretical underpinning of the UWASA project.