Effects of a culturally congruent intervention on cognitive factors related to drug-use recovery

This paper describes a culturally congruent intervention to promote recovery from illegal drug use among African Americans and reports initial outcomes. The intervention was based on the transtheoretical stages-of-change model and on techniques of focused dyadic counseling and motivational interviewing. Subjects were randomly assigned to the culturally congruent intervention or to a control condition. Each condition featured a single counseling session during which drug-related and other needs were assessed and appropriate referrals offered. Posttest data indicated that subjects in the culturally congruent condition were more involved in the counseling session, more willing to self-disclose, more motivated to seek help for drug-use-associated problems, and higher on preparation for change.