Motivational Enhancement Treatment to Improve Treatment Engagement and Outcome for Spanish-Speaking Individuals Seeking Treatment for Substance Abuse
Kathleen Carroll, Ph.D. Co-Lead Investigator Connecticut VA Healthcare Center Department of Psychiatry Yale University 950 Campbell Avenue (151D) West Haven, CT 06516 kathleen.carroll@yale.edu José Szapocznik, Ph.D. Co-Lead Investigator Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences University of Miami 1425 Northwest 10th Ave. Miami, FL 33136 jszapocz@med.miami.edu

Because Spanish-speaking drug users are often not included in studies of drug abuse treatment, little is known about what works with this population. On the other hand, there is research that shows that this minority group carries attitudes and beliefs about substance abuse that may be barriers to participation in substance abuse treatment. A few studies do indicate, however, that efforts to motivate substance-abusing Hispanics can be effective in bringing them into treatment. One such intervention, Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET), is a promising intervention that may increase Hispanic clients' commitment to change and reduce their resistance to entering treatment. Motivational Enhancement Treatment is a systematic intervention approach based on the principles of motivational psychology that utilize motivational strategies to mobilize the client's own change resources. This study compares a three-session Spanish version of MET to standard treatment to see how well MET engages and retains Spanish-speaking clients in outpatient substance abuse treatment. The researchers are also going to look at the characteristics of the participants to see if there is a particular type of patient that is suited for MET and a number of other factors.

Primary Findings: Although both the study and standard treatment interventions resulted in reductions to substance use during the 4-week therapy phase, there were no significant Treatment Condition x Time interactions nor Site x Treatment Condition interactions. Results suggest that the individual treatments delivered in Spanish were both attractive and effective with this heterogenous group of Hispanic adults, but the differential effectiveness of motivational enhancement therapy may be limited to those whose primary substance use problem is alcohol and may be fairly modest in magnitude.

Primary Outcomes Paper: Carroll KM, et al. A Multisite Randomized Effectiveness Trial of Motivational Enhancement Therapy for Spanish-Speaking Substance Users. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 2009;77(5):993-999. [doi: 10.1037/a0016489] [more. . .]

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