title: Enhancing validity in co-occurring disorders treatment research.
abstract: Despite the high prevalence of co-occurring mental health and substance-use disorders, there has been a relative lack of treatment research with this population, and the existing research often has limited validity. This article explores some of the barriers to the conduct of research on promising interventions for substance-abuse treatment for people with co-occurring disorders, using the concepts of external and ecological validity to make recommendations for future investigation. The central recommendation is to move rapidly from efficacy studies to more credible and valid effectiveness studies, in order to facilitate the adoption of evidence-based interventions in routine practice settings.
authors.affiliation: Dartmouth Psychiatric Research Center, 2 Whipple Place, Suite 202, Lebanon, NH 03766, USA. gregory.mchugo@dartmouth.edu
authors.forename: Gregory J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: McHugo
authors.forename: Robert E
authors.initials: RE
authors.lastname: Drake
authors.forename: Mary F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Brunette
authors.forename: Haiyi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.forename: Susan M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Essock
authors.forename: Alan I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Green
mesh_terms: D015897:Comorbidity; D017831:Diagnosis, Dual (Psychiatry); D006801:Humans; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012106:Research; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D016896:Treatment Outcome