Exploring cultural competence in acceptance and commitment therapy outcomes.

Professional psychologists have an ethical obligation to engage in culturally competent service delivery within their research and practice. Although the American Psychological Association has published guidelines for multicultural competence within these areas, researchers continue to rely on convenience samples comprised primarily of majority population groups interspersed with individuals from various diverse populations. This leads to uncertainty regarding the generalizability and utility of existing psychological treatments. Given the growth in research and popularity of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), this paper investigates the practice of cultural competence in ACT outcome research. A comprehensive review of published ACT outcome research revealed that ACT is being implemented and researched across a number of countries around the world, with a presumably diverse population. However, a notable percent of the outcome studies do not provide adequate descriptions of the demographic makeup of their samples, particularly related to ethnic or racial information. Studies that do report ethnic or racial information provide preliminary evidence that suggests ACT may be effective with diverse groups. The implications of these findings are discussed, including recommendations for researchers and practitioners and potential directions for future research and practice. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved)