Ethnic differences in spirituality in a sample of men and women in diverse substance abuse treatment settings: implications for practitioners.

There has been a growing recognition of the need to understand the role of spirituality in ethnically diverse populations in social work and other helping professions. Although researchers are increasingly examining ethnic variations in prevalence rates, treatment utilization, and treatment outcomes for individuals with substance abuse problems, limited research attention has been focused on the relationship between spirituality and ethnicity in the substance abuse field. The current study addressed this gap in the literature by comparing three ethnically diverse groups in terms of multiple aspects of spirituality. Findings showed that African Americans scored significantly higher in spiritual well-being, religiousness, and cognitive orientation toward spirituality compared to Whites, whereas Whites scored significantly higher in existential well-being compared to African Americans. Hispanics scored significantly lower in experiential/phenomenological dimension of spirituality compared to Whites and African Americans. Implications for practitioners are discussed.