Introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology: “Best practices” in prevention and treatment for racial and ethnic minority people.

Abstract

Research has documented widespread and persistent disparities in physical and mental health as well as in access to and effectiveness of prevention programs and treatments among racial and ethnic minority people in the United States and abroad (Maura & Mamani, 2017;Mullins et al., 2005). The awareness of these disparities is not new. Yet, the field has been unable to resolve these longstanding disparities. This is unacceptable. As clinical psychology now begins to examine its role in systemic racism and address the need for clear attention to issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and social justice in our research and practice (e.g., Buchanan et al., 2021;Galán et al., 2021), the time is ripe for taking stock of where we are (and are not) with regard to developing and providing effective prevention programs and treatments for diverse and underserved people.With this in mind, and as a way to both take stock and provide directions for the future, we developed this special issue of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (JCCP) that focuses broadly on "best practices" as they relate to prevention and treatment for racial and ethnic minority people. Our goal was to compile a diverse set of articles with regard to type (i.e., empirical, theoretical, review) and methodology (i.e., quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods), so as not to be limited by the typical formats and standards that characterize articles usually published in JCCP, and that can maintain existing structural practices that can limit novel discovery and potentially obstruct DEI efforts. We are pleased to say that we met that goal.We were fortunate to receive numerous articles, which were handled by the full editorial team. The group of 10 articles published in this issue includes articles using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods. They include empirical studies, review articles, and one theoretical article. Most focus on people of diverse race/ ethnicity, with two focusing specifically on Black/African American people and two on Latinx people. The majority of the articles address the development, acceptability, and/or efficacy of culturally adapted and culturally relevant interventions (