Strategies for Incorporating Culture into Psychosocial Interventions for Youth of Color

Abstract

This review summarized the literature on psychosocial interventions for youth of color. Ninetythree journal articles of randomized clinical trials, with samples comprised of youth of color, published between 1974 and 2018 were coded for sample characteristics, intervention characteristics, and strategies for incorporating culture into psychotherapy. Results found 69 psychosocial interventions to be efficacious for youth of color; 32% of these psychosocial interventions included a strategy for incorporating culture into psychotherapy. The evidence base was largest for Black and Hispanic/Latinx populations and for psychosocial interventions targeting disruptive behavior problems. The most common strategies for incorporating culture into treatment among effective psychosocial interventions were employing procedures for addressing cultural context and including providers with awareness and knowledge of the client's culture. The inclusion of strategies for incorporating culture was not associated with treatment efficacy. Findings from this review highlight the laudable efforts that have been made to identify efficacious psychosocial interventions for youth of color and illuminate remaining gaps in the evidence base (e.g., efficacious psychosocial interventions for Asian, Native American and Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander youth). Findings also emphasize the nuance of providing effective mental health services that are compatible with client's cultural worldviews, values,and practices and allude to the promise of decision support tools to help providers determine whether, when, and how to culturally tailor their psychotherapy with youth of color.

Common Elements Approaches to Implementation Research and Practice: Methods and Integration with Intervention Science

“…Combining element approaches with research using multiple causal theories can also help increase our understanding of the how, why, and when interventions tend to work, to complement the primacy to the whether and how often efficacy/ effectiveness questions that have traditionally dominated the evidence-based paradigm (Engell, 2021). Such understandings may help reconcile static population-based evidence with implementation of more personalized, ecological, and dynamic approaches to care (Engell et al, 2021), and unveil adaptations to interventions that tend to be favorable under different circumstances (e.g., Park et al, 2022). Common elements can also be "building blocks" to be reassembled and tailored into new or adapted interventions or other models and forms of implementation in practice (Chorpita et al, 2021;Engell et al, 2021).…”

A Digital Single-Session Intervention Platform for Youth Mental Health: Cultural Adaptation, Evaluation, and Dissemination

“…Cultural adaptations of interventions have demonstrated increased acceptability and retention in marginalized populations by including their stories and translations by talking to clinicians well versed in the cultural differences of specific populations [ 19 , 20 ]. However, startlingly, only a few youth-focused intervention trials—even those that include youths of color—actually use strategies to address culture within the interventions themselves [ 21 ]. Furthermore, very few culturally adapted interventions for adolescent anxiety and depression have been developed; those that exist rely mainly on clinician feedback, instead of youth involvement, to drive cultural adaptations [ 21 ].…”

“…However, startlingly, only a few youth-focused intervention trials—even those that include youths of color—actually use strategies to address culture within the interventions themselves [ 21 ]. Furthermore, very few culturally adapted interventions for adolescent anxiety and depression have been developed; those that exist rely mainly on clinician feedback, instead of youth involvement, to drive cultural adaptations [ 21 ]. This reflects an important and critical gap in the available digital supports.…”

A Digital Single-Session Intervention Platform for Youth Mental Health: Cultural Adaptation, Evaluation, and Dissemination

“…Cultural adaptations of interventions have demonstrated increased acceptability and retention in marginalized populations by including their stories and translations by talking to clinicians well-versed in the cultural differences of specific populations [19,20]. However, startlingly few youth-focused intervention trials-even those that include youth of Coloractually use strategies to address culture within the interventions themselves [21]. Furthermore, very few culturally adapted interventions for adolescent anxiety and depression have been developed; those that exist have relied mainly on clinician feedback, instead of youth involvement, to drive cultural adaptations [21].…”

“…However, startlingly few youth-focused intervention trials-even those that include youth of Coloractually use strategies to address culture within the interventions themselves [21]. Furthermore, very few culturally adapted interventions for adolescent anxiety and depression have been developed; those that exist have relied mainly on clinician feedback, instead of youth involvement, to drive cultural adaptations [21]. This reflects an important and critical gap in available digital supports.…”