Systematic review: The nature and extent of social work research on substance use disorders treatment interventions among African Americans

Abstract

Summary Little is known about the contribution made by social workers to empirical evidence on substance use disorders treatment, especially interventions for African Americans. This article presents a systematic review of 23 articles, presentations, and dissertations written by social workers that focus on substance use disorders treatment interventions with African Americans. The aim of this review is to estimate the extent of contribution made by social workers to the research knowledge base on substance use disorders treatment interventions that are effective among African Americans, and to assess the methodological quality of those studies. Findings The review shows social workers’ contributions to research examining substance use disorders treatment interventions with African Americans is inadequate and the methodological rigor of these studies is slightly below average. Of the 23 articles examined, few studies included only African American samples, and most investigated substance use disorders treatment interventions in samples with a small percentage of African American participants. Moreover, most of the reviewed studies were published between 1994 and 2010 in non-social work journals and were cited an average of 6.67 times. Applications The social work profession must increase its contribution to the empirical knowledge base on substance use disorders intervention research with African Americans because it is essential to the provision of culturally sensitive, evidence-based practice to African Americans. More quasi-experimental and experimental designs are needed to compare multiple evidence-based treatments across diverse populations, and to determine causality between treatment processes and outcomes.