The Family and Community Health Study (FACHS), a cooperative research effort between Iowa State and the University of Georgia, is now studying the strengths of African American families and the communities in which they live.

ISU’s Center for Family Research in Rural Mental Health and Georgia’s Institute for Behavioral Research are interviewing more than 800 African American families in Iowa and Georgia towns and cities.

In Iowa, Des Moines and Waterloo are the target cities, Rand Conger, director of the research center at ISU, said. Communities in Georgia such as Athens, Atlanta and intermediate rural areas are also involved.

“This research strategy is important because almost all previous research with African American families has occurred in large urban centers, and little is known about the portion of this population that lives in other geographic locations,” Conger said.

“Also important is the fact that this study focuses on the strengths of African American families that help young people avoid problems and promote competencies, such as school achievement and positive social relationships,” Conger said.

Colleen Buescher, the study’s project manager in Iowa, said while FACHS is focusing on rural families, Iowa researchers are using families in Des Moines and Waterloo because “the larger populations of African Americans are in the larger cities.”

She said it is necessary to use a semi-urban setting in Iowa in order to get a “representative sample” of the population. “In the cities, the numbers [of African Americans] are high enough to make generalities,” Buescher said.

The affects of families and communities on family processes and child development are also being studied. “We will be looking at what communities can do to foster family well-being,” Buescher said.

After this question is answered, the researchers will return to the communities to share the information. “There has been a lot of interest in the communities involved. Many groups and individuals in these communities have endorsed the study,” Buescher said.

“Past research on neighborhoods has focused almost exclusively on how large inner-city neighborhoods influence children. There was a real need to look at the way neighborhoods influence families and young people living in smaller communities,” Ron Simons, professor of sociology, said.

Simons is the principal investigator for FACHS research on adolescent emotional and behavioral problems. Carolyn Cutrona, psychology professor, is the principle investigator of adult mental health.

Frederick Gibbons, also an ISU psychology professor, is heading up research on adolescent health risks and behaviors.

Training for interviewers in Iowa began in January and field work started in February. The first round of interviews is expected to be finished in December, with interviews to continue every other year, according to a news release from the Agriculture Information Service.

The research has not produced any concrete data yet, but researchers are in “the thick of it,” Buescher said. “We’re about halfway through the information-gathering process. We haven’t really started to analyze anything yet.”

The target children in the study are 10- to 11-year-olds, because at these ages, they are approaching the transition to adolescence. Other interviewees are primary and secondary care-givers and 12- to 14-year-old siblings.

The interviews, which are conducted in participants’ homes, take about three hours. Each family is paid between $170 and $250, depending on the number of family members participating. A 20-minute part of the interview is also videotaped to allow researchers to study how family members interact.

The research builds on previous studies conducted by the research center at ISU on economic stress in rural families and its effects, including marital satisfaction, parenting practices, social-support processes and the general mental and physical health of family members.

In contrast to the current study, this previous research focused mainly on families of European descent.

The FACHS study will follow the children for an undetermined amount of time. Funding, provided by the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute on Drug Abuse, is now promised for five years, but there is a possibility the study will be extended.