Examining the Representation of Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups in Preventive Intervention Research

Pamela Buckley, PhD
University of Colorado Boulder

Velma McBride Murry, PhD
Vanderbilt University

ABSTRACT:
There are major gaps in research on racial/ethnic minoritized groups that impede effectiveness of preventive interventions, including insufficient attention to protective processes that prevent and avert risk, discounting input and guidance from community stakeholders of diverse communities, and overlooking crucial information about how to effectively transition interventions from white to racial/ethnic minority populations. Despite inclusion of racial ethnic minoritized populations, interventions validated with largely white samples are often recommended for all populations, which then heightens external validity concerns about widely disseminated treatments that are tested for one group but exported, perhaps uncritically, to others. Empirical evidence documenting the prevalence of racial/ethnic minoritized groups represented in preventive intervention research studies, however, is largely unknown. This project uses data from the Blueprints for Healthy Youth Development database (herein referred to as Blueprints), which provides an online clearinghouse of evidence-based interventions (EBIs) that prevent or reduce the likelihood of antisocial and violent behavior and promote a healthy course of youth development. Using data collected by Blueprints, which is the longest standing clearinghouse among up to 20 within the United States alone, we examined the representation of ethnic minority groups in preventive intervention research. Specifically, we reviewed and evaluated the nature, size, and scope of extant research across an 11-year period involving representation of racial and ethnic minority groups in preventive intervention research, thus serving as a vehicle for decision-making regarding the generalizability of EBIs. This presentation provides an overview of preliminary findings, presents recommendations for reporting race and ethnicity in prevention interventions studies, and concludes with a discussion aimed at identifying specific areas where additional research would be beneficial or even gaps in services where new intervention development is needed.