Promising Intervention and Measurement Directions for Substance Use Treatment Research Among Hispanics

This review highlights recent efforts to understand and eliminate longstanding disparities in substance use disorder (SUD) treatment among Hispanics through new intervention and measurement directions with this population. Emerging research underscores culturally responsive trauma-informed care as a key strategy to eliminate disparities in health and treatment quality among Hispanics. Developing interventions that align with the cultural worldviews, ideologies, and values of Hispanics are likely to bolster substance use treatment outcomes in this population. While emerging evidence indicates that mindfulness-based approaches hold such promise, more rigorous research that includes Hispanic samples is warranted. There is also a need to maximize precision in measurement in addiction science. This article provides a brief background and discussion of how research teams are using innovative approaches within and outside of the addictions field to better understand symptom presentations in diverse understudied populations as an important practice in more equitable research. Emerging research in the areas of intervention and measurement can help addiction clinicians and researchers get closer to providing acceptable interventions that engage Hispanics while maximizing precision in characterizing screening for equitable treatment inclusion and monitoring of individual patient outcomes and ultimately treatment outcomes.