Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2012 Dec 1;126(3):333-9.
doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2012.05.033. Epub 2012 Jun 27.

Moderating effects of race in clinical trial participation and outcomes among marijuana-dependent young adults

LaTrice Montgomery  1 , Nancy M Petry, Kathleen M Carroll
Affiliations

Moderating effects of race in clinical trial participation and outcomes among marijuana-dependent young adults

LaTrice Montgomery et al. Drug Alcohol Depend. .

Abstract

Background: Few studies have examined clinical trial participation rates and treatment outcomes among underserved young adults who are dependent on marijuana, the most commonly abused illicit drug.

Method: The present study was a secondary analysis of a trial of court-referred marijuana-dependent young adults (ages 18-25) randomized to one of four treatment conditions: Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (MET/CBT), MET/CBT+Contingency Management (CM), Drug Counseling (DC) or DC+CM. African American (N=81) participants were compared to White (N=31) participants with respect to rates of participation in phases of treatment and substance use outcomes. In addition, the interaction of race and treatment condition was examined to ascertain if the interventions yielded different effects based on race.

Results: Among those who started treatment, African American young adults were significantly less likely to complete the treatment and posttreatment phases of the clinical trial than their White counterparts. Irrespective of treatment type, substance use outcomes (i.e., percentage of marijuana-negative specimens and longest duration of continuous abstinence) did not vary by race. However, there was a significant interaction effect between treatment type and race; African American young adults did not benefit differentially from any specific type of treatment, but CM was effective in reducing proportion of marijuana positive samples among White young adults.

Conclusions: Findings suggest that clinical trial treatment and posttreatment completion rates vary by race in this population, as does response to specific treatment types. More treatment research focusing specifically on African American marijuana-dependent young adults is warranted.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Average percentage of marijuana-negative urine specimens by racial and treatment group. (1) MET/CBT + CM = Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy + Contingency Management, (2) DC + CM = Drug Counseling + Contingency Management, (3) MET/CBT/no CM = Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy without Contingency Management, (4) DC/no CM = Drug Counseling without Contingency Management. Standard deviations for African Americans and Whites, respectively: (1) .33, .45, (2) .35, .51, (3) .45, .43, (4) .39, .42
Figure 2
Figure 2
Average maximum number of days of continuous abstinence by racial and treatment group. (1) MET/CBT + CM = Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy + Contingency Management, (2) DC + CM = Drug Counseling + Contingency Management, (3) MET/CBT/no CM = Motivational Enhancement Therapy/Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy without Contingency Management, (4) DC/no CM = Drug Counseling without Contingency Management. Standard deviations for African Americans and Whites, respectively: (1) 19.65, 23.54, (2) 20.59, 23.58, (3) 22.18, 22.90, (4) 14.73, 22.09.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Alegria M, Carson NJ, Goncalves M, Keefe K. Disparities in treatment for substance use disorders and co-occuring disorders for ethnic/racial minority youth. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry. 2011;50:22–31. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alvarez RA, Vasquez MS, Vasquez E, Mayorga C, Feaster DJ, Mitrani VB. Increasing minority research participation through community organization outreach. West. J. Nurs. Res. 2008;28:541–563. - PMC - PubMed
    1. American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders DSM-IV-R. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association; 2000.
    1. Ball SA, Martino S, Nich C, Frankforter TL, Van Horn D, Crits-Christoph P, Woody GE, Obert JL, Farentinos C, Carroll KM. Site matters: multisite randomized trial of motivational enhancement therapy in community drug abuse clinics. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 2007;75:556–567. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Barry D, Sullivan B, Petry NM. Comparable efficacy of contingency management for cocaine dependence among African American, Hispanic and White methadone maintenance clients. Psychol. Addict. Behav. 2009;23:168–174. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms