Running Head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Annotated Bibliography
Providing Drug Addictions Counseling Services in a Multicultural Community
Annica Powell
John Jay College
1
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Carroll, M. E., & Smethells, J. R. (2015). Sex Differences in Behavioral Dyscontrol: Role in
Drug Addiction and Novel Treatments. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 6,
175. http://doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.3389/fpsyt.2015.00175
The study reviewed and discussed research findings of sex differences when it comes to
behavioral dyscontrol that contributed to drug addiction. Carroll and Smethells (2015) also
discussed various clinical implications for humans. Their review found some differences in
behavior control leading to addictions depending on sexual orientation, primarily because of
the hormonal variations. However, most studies they reviewed were on animals. As a result,
humans’ variations were not clear since they discovered that societal factors also need to be
considered essential elements.
The study found that females estrogen is typically associated with increased drug-seeking
and high drug-rewarding effects. Progesterone hormones were found to be working in the
opposite dimension. In the study, males’ testosterone has less influence on drhasddiction, and
females have higher likelihood than males to abuse drugs, espemalesly prescription drugs
such as tranquilizers, opioids, and sedatives. However, men are more susceptible to abuse
illicit drugs. The illicit abuse that, although females are more likely to seek drugs than males,
men have more sensitivity to control behaviors and adverse effects of drugs than females,
such as drug withdrawal. Other factors, including compulsive binge intake of sweet drugs or
substances, impulsivity, and age (adolescence), interact with sex variations to influence
addictive behaviors.
The study provides excellent information regarding sex difference in dyscontrol
behaviors that leads to drug addictions in most people. It offers crucial details to explain why
the differences present severe challenges for treatment and prevention of addiction on some
people and designing counseling plans for people with such addiction-prone traits. However,
one limitation of this review is the lack of comprehensive analysis of how sex differences in
2
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
humans contributed to drug addiction. Instead, the authors based their analysis on both
laboratory animals and humans to understand the individual differences.
De La Rosa, M., Dillon, F. R., Sastre, F., & Babino, R. (2013). Alcohol Use among Recent
Latino Immigrants Before and After Immigration to the United States. The American Journal
on Addictions / American Academy of Psychiatrists in Alcoholism and Addictions, 22(2),
10.1111/j.1521–0391.2013.00310.x. http://doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1111/j.1521-
0391.2013.00310.x
This study provided information on the alcohol consumption behaviors of Latino
immigrants. The findings are based on the Latinos living in Florida and how they behaved
before and after immigrating to the US, with an average of 2 years before and up to 2
entering the new country. The authors aimed to investigate the patterns, factors for resiliency,
and the risks associated with alcohol use. The article pointed out the factors that Latinos may
have less drinking problems in the US for experiencing more optimism and hope related to
their new life and opportunities. The cultural context of the new community also contributes
to positive change. The findings will help my own conclusion while observing the impact of a
different culture in addictions and the importance of multicultural competence for counselors.
Egorov, A. Y., & Szabo, A. (2013). The exercise paradox: An interactional model for a clearer
conceptualization of exercise addiction. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2(4), 199–
208. http://doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1556/JBA.2.2013.4.2
The article presented findings based on inquiries conducted with university students,
which reports up to 13.4% of that group having a high risk of exercise addiction. It is still
considered a rare addiction compared to other types. However, it is becoming much more
evident that people could become addicted to a great number of different behaviors (e.g.,
workaholism, Internet, shopping, television, pornography, dance). The authors stated that
very little attention had been given to comprehend and treat people suffering from these
imprisoning behaviors. Most of the behavioral addictions share the same neurobiological
mechanism with other types of chemical addiction. There is a unique challenge to conduct
3
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
research on exercise addiction since highly committed athletes do not want to be away from
their training, even for a short period of time, and are offered monetary compensation.
However, on the participants submitted to the research tests, findings of a drastic decrease of
overall well-being were found (e.g., poor sleep, high level of anxiety, sexual tension).
Gainsbury, S. (2017). Cultural competence in the treatment of addictions: Theory, practice,
and evidence. Clinical Psychology & Psychotherapy, 24(4):987-1001. DOI: 10.1002/pp.,
2062.
The study conducted a literature review to identify relevant literature associated with
professional counselors’ cultural competence in mental health services, specifically based on
the treatment of addictive disorders. The article argued that Culturally and Linguistically
Diverse (CALD) groups have high addictive behaviors and disorders. However, the
population shows lower rates of treatment-seeking and completion compared to the
mainstream population. The author assessed whether the barrier to treatment lacked culturally
relevant and appropriate approaches to treatment. Although various theoretical models to
multicultural competencies in counseling therapy have been developed, this study found that
the available empirical evidence is limited due to a lack of rigorous study.
According to Gainsbury (2017), culturally competent treatment of addictive behaviors
must consider evidence-based practices such as providing materials and therapy using a
language that clients will understand, mainly in their language, understanding, knowledge,
and appreciation. The practice should be appropriate for specific cultural nuances and
perspectives. The study also indicated that it is crucial to involve the wider family and
community in addictive behaviors or disorders. It was found that counselors’ or therapists’
training can improve client engagement, treatment outcomes, and retention for gambling and
substance abuse. Multicultural competence practices include matching the clients and
4
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
counselors/clinicians on the cultural and linguistic background and being extra mindful of the
consequences of culture on clients’ experience of the underlying addiction issues.
The study presents appropriate literature for counselors to integrate cultural context into
evidence-based counseling or treatment of addictive behaviors. The author recommends a
continued focus on establishing CALD-specific treatment to addiction. It assesses available
empirical studies and meta-analyses of the substance abuse treatment approach. The author
applies multicultural counseling theories and practice to come up with evidence-based
approaches to the integration of culturally mindful therapy that can be considered the best fit
with clients’ beliefs, background, social-cultural, and attitudes context. The analysis presents
some of the major pitfalls, including generational and acculturation, stereotyping,
unstructured and excessive focus on cultural adaptation. However, the author did not conduct
a systematic review of the literature. Instead, the study applied a rapid methodology that
reviewed the evidence.
Matthews, A. K., McConnell, E. A., Li, C.-C., Vargas, M. C., & King, A. (2014). Design a
comparative effectiveness evaluation of a culturally tailored versus standard community-
based smoking cessation treatment program for LGBT smokers. BMC Psychology, 2,
12. https://doi.org/10.1186/2050-7283-2-12
Matthews et al. (2014) argue that the rates of smoking prevalence among the sexual
minority populations, the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT), are higher than
those of the general population. But studies focusing on smoking cessation treatment in the
LGBT population is limited, specifically on culturally-based interventions. Since there few
strategies or interventions addressing cultural-specific psychosocial variables influencing
treatment outcome, such as minority stress, this study described a comprehensive protocol for
a comparative effectiveness trial that tests an evidence-based program for smoking cessation.
The authors provide the program, “Courage to Quit, against a culturally-based version for the
5
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
LGBT group of smokers. It also assesses the primary role of culturally specific psychosocial
variables when it comes to the outcomes of smoking cessation programs.
The study applied a 2-arm block, randomized control trial (RCT) design to assess the
overall effectiveness of a culturally tailored versus standard cessation program or
intervention. Adult LGBT participants, a sample size of 400, were randomized to one of these
programs, which contained a six-session group program each. These were delivered in a
community center, coupled with eight week supply of nicotine patches. The study also
provided four individualized counseling sessions through telephone at times of greatest risk
for relapse. It was found that expired air carbon monoxide confirmed seven-day point-
prevalence quit rates, specifically at every time of measurement. The study’s secondary
findings examined changes in an individual’s smoking cessation self-efficacy, withdrawal
symptoms, and treatment adherence.
One of the primary strengths of this study’s program is that it builds on already
established cessation intervention by integrating some culturally tailored strategies. It also
utilizes a relatively larger sample of the LGBT population. This study’s approach is
innovative since its analytical model focuses on both the general and culturally specific
individually mediated predictors of cessation, addressing the gap in the existing literature. It
also incorporates a strong methodological design, which allows the researchers to isolate the
impact of the treatment group and, at the same time, control for other numerous factors.
However, the study has some limitations because it draws its sample only from Chicago,
which sidelines LGBT communities from other regions. It also includes only those
participants who are highly motivated to stop smoking. It does not address the counseling
need to be aware of the client’s cultural diversity in the cessation treatment plan.
6
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Oberheim, S. T., DePue, M. K., & Hagedorn, W. B. (2017). Substance Use Disorders (SUDs)
in Transgender Communities: The Need for Trans-Competent SUD Counselors and
Facilities. Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling, 38(1), 33–47. DOI:
10.1002/jaoc.12027.
The article provides insights into viewing transgender clients. It demonstrates the need
for professional counselors to have multicultural competency and offer trans-SUD counseling
using an illustration from an evidence-based case study. The authors outline the special needs
of transgender clients who seek SUD counseling and treatment. The article also highlights
and provides a comprehensive analysis of various adverse effects most transgender clients
may face when working or receiving advice from ill-prepared addiction counselors with less
multicultural competency skills. It proposes counselors need to be equipped with the
necessary skill and knowledge when dealing with transgenders to address the issues.
According to Oberheim, DePue, and Hagedorn (2017), there are common beliefs in most
treatment community and misunderstanding about transgenders’ gender identity, which
makes counseling providers perceive them in a stigmatizing perspective mainly because of
the unawareness of their special needs as gender minorities. The article found that the
primary barrier faced by transgenders is their prior adverse experience with providers because
of discrimination/biases towards the population. They face rejection from the heterosexual
community, cisgender, and sexual minority population, making them feel unaccepted in
traditional addiction treatment facilities. As a result, there is a need for trans-competent
addiction counselors who are aware of and understand the unique needs of transgender clients
entering SUD treatment programs for successful treatment completion.
It is an excellent article that provides a detailed analysis of multicultural counseling
needs in the transgender population entering SUD treatment. It provides a critical analysis of
7
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
a case study to reveal evidence-based practice for professional counselors. The article
suggests that counseling training programs should incorporate transgender-specific training
and skills, primarily into multicultural and addictions training programs. However, although
the authors recommend such training programs to focus on counselors’ awareness and
knowledge of working with transgenders, they provide no evidence of specific cultural
practices of transgenders associated with experiential activities or didactic education and
successful SUD treatments.
Sussman, S., Lisha, N., & Griffiths, M. (2011). Prevalence of the Addictions: A Problem of
the Majority or the Minority? Evaluation & the Health Professions, 34(1), 3–56. DOI:
10.1177/0163278710380124
The authors in this article presented extensive information about the definition,
mechanism, and consequences of addiction. The article focused on 11 potential substance
addictions, including illicit drugs, alcohol, tobacco, gambling, eating, Internet, sex, love,
work, exercise, and shopping. The authors conducted a systematic review of the literature
about addictions’ prevalence and co-occurrence. The study gathered significant details from
83 studies, each having a sample size of at least 500 participants, and supplemented with
small-scale data.
The study found that addiction occurs with several variations; however, it has a repetitive
behavior, which a considerable amount of time is spent to think or engage in it. The disorder
produces a loss of ability to make free choices and loss of control. Other activities can
become less satisfying or pleasurable and may impact job, social activities, or hobbies,
producing further consequences as financial loss, relationship issues, emotional stress, and
criminal activities. The withdrawal effects are many and lead to anxieties, depression,
irritability, among others. The addicted seem to also cope with the same emotional manifested
in the withdrawal effects by repeating the behavior. The study provides that counseling and
8
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
health professionals should target the compulsion to get repeatedly specific behaviors on
individuals with addictions, even with skills and knowledge of potential adverse health and
social effects.
One strength of this study is that it focuses on a wide range of substance abuse addiction.
It also analyzes both the prevalence and co-occurrence of addition. However, further studies
are needed to understand the impact of multicultural counseling in the prevalence and co-
occurrence of addition. The study also uses a relatively weak supplementary methodological
design and small sample size. This study’s primary limitation is the paucity of data collected
on the co-occurrence and prevalence of various addictive behaviors. Further study is needed
to address multicultural counseling issues since most people quit addictions easily compared
to others. The current study does not evaluate whether cultural diversity has some influence
on physiology versus social context.
Wendt, D. C., Gone, J. P., & Nagata, D. K. (2015). Potentially Harmful Therapy and
Multicultural Counseling: Bridging Two Disciplinary Discourses. The Counseling
Psychologist, 43(3), 334–358. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011000014548280
The study focuses on the recent concern regarding potentially harmful counseling
therapy that has yet been discussed by the latest discourse, specifically based on the
psychotherapy movement and multicultural counseling. The study focused on bringing the
seemingly disparate discourse of harmful therapy into a greater conversation with each other,
primarily on the service of putting the discipline on a robust foothold. Wendt, Gone, and
Nagata (2015) reviewed two major discourses and explored various reasons for their
divergence.
The study found that these discourses operate based on diverse assumptions regarding
objects, sources, and scope of the overall harm. The article also argues that these variations
9
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
reveal the discipline’s need to better appreciate those harms through the social construct. The
researchers also provide that these differences show that psychotherapy may be inherently
ethnocentric, and various strategies for gathering evidence of harm must be incorporated with
a social justice agenda. The study found that “Counseling and psychotherapy have done great
harm to culturally diverse groups by invalidating their life experiences, by defining their
cultural values or differences as deviant and pathological, by denying them culturally
appropriate care, and by imposing the values of a dominant culture upon them” (p. 336).
Young, K. S. (2013). Treatment outcomes using CBT-IA with Internet-addicted
patients. Journal of Behavioral Addictions, 2(4), 209–
215. http://doi.org.ezproxy.liberty.edu/10.1556/JBA.2.2013.4.3
This article provided relevant information about Cognitive behavioral therapy and
effective behavioral addictions, especially internet addiction. Cognitive-behavioral therapy
(CBT) teaches new coping strategies and practices and helps addicts better observe addictive
feelings and actions. The author stated that CBT usually requires three months of treatment or
twelve weekly sessions. When dealing with internet addiction, the aim first is on impulse
control (behavior). After a few sessions, it can progress to cognitive assumptions and
distortions that progressed along with the addiction, also analyzing the effects on the
behavior. Overgeneralizing or catastrophizing are common maladaptive cognitions that
negatively influence internet addiction. The article assumed that people who sustain negative
core beliefs are more susceptible to the Internet’s anonymous aspects, therefore, with more
risks for internet addictions. Abstinence offers a great challenge for clients since computers
are so essential in most parts of our routines. Internet addicts in later stages of addictions
neglect other aspects of their lives and choose to do everything online and on computers.
10
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
Young, M. E., DeLorenzi, L. D. A., & Cunningham, L. (2011). Using meditation in addiction
counseling. Journal of Addictions & Offender Counseling, 32(1-2), 58-71.
In this article, the authors found meditation (in its various forms) to treat addiction in
counseling. Meditation can have curative factors and offer mechanisms to help people in
recovery. It has higher efficiency during and after the middle stages of recovery. Devotional
meditation, mindfulness meditation, and mantra meditation are some of the practices.
Counselors should seek training before using meditation with clients, but the techniques can
greatly help prevent relapses. Spirituality and addiction counseling are long time partners in
helping people. Examples are seen in Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, etc.
However, counselors need to be ethical and sensitive to the clients’ spirituality before using
these methods. The article can offer different alternatives for my paper when discussing
treatment methods.
11
