Culturally Adapted, Web-Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Spanish-Speaking Individuals With Substance Use Disorders: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate whether adding Web-based cognitive behavioral treatment (CBT) to standard outpatient psychiatric or addiction treatment improved substance use outcomes.

METHODS

We conducted a randomized clinical trial in New Haven, Connecticut, between 2014 and 2017 comparing 8 weeks of standard outpatient treatment to the same treatment with access to a culturally adapted version of Web-based CBT with a 6-month follow-up. Participants were 92 treatment-seeking individuals with Spanish as their primary language and current substance use disorder, with few other restrictions.

RESULTS

Treatment completion and data availability were high (98% of the randomized sample). For the primary outcome (change in frequency of primary substance used), there was a significant effect of treatment condition by time (t  = -2.64; 95% confidence interval = -0.61, 0.09; P = .01), indicating significantly greater reductions for those assigned to Web CBT, which were durable through the 6-month follow-up. The knowledge test indicated significantly greater increases for those assigned to Web CBT.

CONCLUSIONS

Adding a culturally adapted version of Web-based CBT to standard treatment improved substance use outcomes. Public Health Implications. This approach has high potential to address health disparities by providing an easily accessible, inexpensive form of evidence-based treatment to a range of Latinos with substance use disorders.