# Miles de Manos: Testing the Efficacy of a School-Based Youth Violence Preventive Intervention in a High Risk International Context

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN · 2022 · $582,640

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT. Violence in the United States is the third leading cause of death
for young people (aged 10 to 24 years), and violent acts have immediate, enduring, and
disturbing impacts on individuals, families, and communities. Youth violence is a problem in
other countries in our hemisphere as well, and one area of particular concern is Central
America. For the past nearly eight years, our research team has been working with partners
across Central America to develop Miles de Manos (MdM; “Thousands of Hands”), a universal,
multi-modal, evidence-informed and community-based youth violence prevention intervention.
MdM has been widely disseminated throughout the region, and has been adopted as a key
component of the national education plans of Honduras and El Salvador, despite the lack of an
evidence base demonstrating its effectiveness. This project proposes a randomized controlled
trial in Honduras, conducted in collaboration with the Honduran Secretary of Education and
ChildFund International, experienced in-country experts in the implementation of MdM through
work funded by USAID. The aims of the proposed project are:
Aim 1. To examine the effectiveness of a culturally specified youth violence prevention
program on improving effective parent and teacher behavior management practices and
reducing both youth problem behaviors and youth association with peers and adults
involved in problem behaviors.
Aim 2. To investigate potential mediators of any outcomes due to the intervention, and
specifically to conduct a test of the social learning theory underlying the intervention.
Aim 3. To investigate potential moderators of any outcomes due to the intervention.
Potential benefits of the project include filling in gaps in knowledge about community-based
violence prevention programs both in Honduras and the U.S. Finding effective ways to improve
the health, safety, and social cohesion of community members has the potential to benefit both
countries in numerous ways, including reducing the personal and social disruptions and traumas
that come from living in and leaving communities that become marked by violence.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10461071
- **Project number:** 5R01HD102984-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN
- **Principal Investigator:** John MARK EDDY
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $582,640
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10461071

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10461071, Miles de Manos: Testing the Efficacy of a School-Based Youth Violence Preventive Intervention in a High Risk International Context (5R01HD102984-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10461071. Licensed CC0.

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