Latino Youth Agricultural Study

This project implements and evaluates a promotora-based intervention targeted at adolescent farm workers. The intervention will be delivered to two different treatment groups: 1) adolescent only, adolescents receive the adapted adolescent version of La Familia Sana program and 2) family enhanced, adolescent and mother both receive the La Familia Sana program. In addition, there will be a control group where adolescent farmworkers will not be exposed to any pesticide safety program. Our project will:

1. Determine if a promotora-based intervention targeting pesticide safety in the workplace is effective in increasing knowledge about safety behaviors among Latino adolescents engaged in farm work.
2. Delineate variation by group among adolescents' knowledge about safety behaviors.
3. Delineate variation in adolescents' pesticide safety behaviors and neurological outcomes after intervention between all groups.

• Safety Education Program (Behavioral): this is a pesticide safety education program

Primary outcomes

• knowledge of pesticide safety behaviors [7 weeks]: This outcome measure will be assessed by a series of nine questions asking adolescents "How do you believe that farmworkers can come in contact with pesticides while working?" Additionally, nine additional questions will be asked that assess "How do you believe that farmworkers can have contact with pesticides while at home?" All responses for these questions are "yes" or "no"
• Self-protective behaviors [7 weeks]: Self-protective behaviors will be assessed by items asking adolescents about their clothes wearing and handling and their hand washing behaviors. Items regarding clothes wearing and handling include self-reported frequency of removing shoes and clothes prior to entering their home and wearing the same clothes more than one day. Additionally, several questions ask about the frequency of wearing shorts, sandals, gloves, etc. Regarding hand washing behavior, adolescents will self-report their hand washing behaviors at pretest and posttest. These questions ask youth about the frequency in which they wash their hands prior to eating, drinking, chewing gum, using the restroom, touching co-workers, etc. All self-protective behavior questions have a response option of "never", "sometimes", "usually", and "always"

Secondary outcomes

• Neurological functioning [7 weeks]: Neurological functioning in the form of coordination and fine motor skills will be assessed by the finger tapper test. This measure focuses specifically on speed and is sensitive to the effects of neurotoxicants. The finger tapper test produces a mean score for both the participant's dominant and non-dominant hand as a result of a series of 10 second tapping exercises.

Sex: All, ages: 12 Years to 21 Years

Inclusion Criteria:

* Adolescent self-identifies as Latino, Hispanic, or of Latin American heritage
* Adolescent is between the ages of 12-21
* Adolescent has been engaged (paid or unpaid) in farm work for at least 10 hours in he last 30 days
* Adolescent has a parent living with them

Exclusion Criteria:

* Refusal of youth to provide assent or parent to provide consent

NIH grants: U54OH007541