The influence of Hispanic ethnicity on long-term outcome in three alcohol-treatment modalities

Prior research has suggested that treatment-seeking Hispanic clients are not likely to affiliate with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA). It was hypothesized that AA 12-step facilitation therapy (TSF) would therefore be less effective than cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and motivational enhancement therapy (MET) for Hispanics, particularly for those with low acculturation.

Outcomes for non-Hispanic white (n = 105; 70% male) and Hispanic (n = 100; 80% male) clients at the New Mexico site within Project MATCH were analyzed for evidence of differential treatment response. A pretreatment measure of acculturation to non-Hispanic white culture was available for 80 of the Hispanic clients.

Self-identified ethnicity mediated treatment response at distal follow-up, as measured by frequency and intensity of alcohol consumption (p < .02). Hispanics drank with more intensity than did non-Hispanic whites when assigned to TSF; non-Hispanic whites in TSF drank with less frequency than those in the combined CBT and MET conditions. The modest outcome advantage for TSF observed in Project MATCH appears to have been limited to non-Hispanic clients. Contrary to prediction, level of acculturation did not mediate treatment response at proximal (Months 1-6 after treatment) or distal follow-up (Months 7-12).

Ethnic self-identification may interact with treatment outcomes in complex ways that are not directly associated with the factors tapped by commonly used measures of acculturation.