Research has highlighted striking racial/ethnic disparities in alcohol-related problems, morbidity, and mortality. African Americans and other minority groups have elevated rates of alcohol-related and cirrhosis mortality, in addition to greater risk for alcohol problems and slower remission of alcohol problems among those who drink (Caetano, 1997; Caetano and Kaskutas, 1996; Dawson et al., 2005; Herd, 1994; Montoya, 2001; Stinson et al., 1993; Yoon et al., 2001). To address such disparities, it is essential to understand factors influencing the development and persistence of drinking problems, and how these factors are distributed across racial/ethnic groups. One set of potentially important explanatory factors pertains to alcohol treatment services; specifically, treatment access, engagement, and outcomes. Because alcohol treatment has been widely shown to reduce alcohol problems (Institute of Medicine, 1990; Miller et al., 2001; Moos et al., 1990), and in particular to facilitate recovery (Dawson et al., 2006; Mojtabai, 2005; Vaillant, 2003; Weisner et al., 2003b), disparities related to alcoholism treatment could contribute to race differences in alcohol-related morbidity and mortality in the general population. Despite its relevance to the national effort to address racial disparities in health, disparities in alcohol treatment and particularly treatment outcomes is an understudied area.
