Bridging diversity and family systems: Culturally informed and flexible family-based treatment for Hispanic adolescents

URL Link

http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000013

Full Citation

Santisteban, D. C. (2013) Bridging diversity and family systems: Culturally informed and flexible family-based treatment for Hispanic adolescents. Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, 24(4), 246-263

What diversity/subjectivity topics are they discussing?

Hispanics have better outcomes when treatments are adapted to their needs. Flexible Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents is presented as an adaptive treatment that allows for the tailoring of treatment to the unique clinical and cultural variations of individual adolescents and families

Your summary or comments on the article

Very good discussion of the need to understand groups and subgroups of Hispanic Adolescents. The article presents a manualized therapay (not my favorite thing), but there is still much information that could enhance our practice

Abstract

There is growing interest in identifying interventions that have been tested and found efficacious with minority families. This interest is fueled in part by the growth of Hispanics in the United States as well as by research findings that suggest that Hispanics have better outcomes when treatments are adapted to their unique experiences, and risk and protective factors. Family-based treatments for culturally diverse populations require the integration of advances from both the cultural and family systems domains. Current intervention research has begun to move toward developing and advancing individualized interventions for patients/clients. Adaptive interventions, tailored interventions, adapted interventions, and targeted interventions have all been identified in the literature as appropriate for addressing distinct cultural characteristics, which generic interventions may not address effectively. To date, research has focused less on tailored or adaptive interventions partly due to the fact that they require decision rules, more careful implementation, and measurement of individualized outcomes. In this article, we present evidence for the usefulness of adaptive interventions that can address not only subgroup variability but within-group variability as well. Culturally Informed and Flexible Family-Based Treatment for Adolescents is presented as an adaptive treatment that allows for the tailoring of treatment to the unique clinical and cultural variations of individual adolescents and families, but that does so in a systematic and replicable fashion. By building decision-making processes into the manualized treatment, the transportability of the treatment may be enhanced as family therapists appreciate its flexibility to address the complexity of clinical work.

Resource contributed by:

Tom Holman