Bicultural Effectiveness Training among Cuban Youths

摘要

The findings of a study comparing the efficiency of Bicultural Effectiveness Training (BET), a new intervention modality, and Structural Family Therapy (SFT), an established treatment approach are presented. The study used a sample of Cuban American families experiencing intercultural and intergenerational differences in which an adolescent member manifested symptoms of conduct disorder and/or social maladjustment. The experimental intervention condition. BET aims at counteracting the disruptive effects of exacerbated cultural and generational gaps on the nuclear family system. The comparison (control) condition, SFT is an approach which also focuses on restructuring dysfunctional patterns of family interaction but in comparison to BET, it is more process oriented and may use any content that emerges from the family. The finding that BET was at l east as effective as SFT for most clinical measures takes on additional signficance in view of the practical advantages of the BET modality. BET is a standardized method of service delivery that is attractive to families, easily replicable, and has the potential for broad distribution, thus lending itself well to early intervention and prevention approaches.