title: Look to the relationship: a review of African American women substance users' poor treatment retention and working alliance development.
abstract: Emergent findings specific to African American women confirm that their substance user treatment retention rates are significantly lower than other groups, which is problematic given that substance user treatment is effective largely to the extent that clients are retained in treatment. This article reviews existing literature concerning disparities in treatment retention, highlights a significant barrier to treatment retention for this population, and presents support for an empirical focus on culturally responsive working alliance development as a promising step toward improving retention rates for African American women substance users.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia 30303, USA. telsie.a.davis@emory.edu
authors.forename: Telsie A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Julie
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ancis
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D055030:Drug Users; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010349:Patient Compliance; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000208:ethnology* / Q000628:therapy