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Abstract
Bridging the gap between substance abuse research and treatment has received extensive attention in recent years. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) have implemented major initiatives to establish partnerships between researchers and practitioners. The objective is to study promising treatments under real-world conditions and then facilitate their use in treatment programs if they are found to be effective. However, many considerations for implementing substance abuse research in community treatment have not received sufficient attention. This article addresses issues relevant to implementing psychosocial research protocols in community substance abuse programs. Building a stronger bridge between research and treatment could be achieved by considering issues heretofore neglected, such as the lack of communication between treatment staff and researchers in the development and implementation of studies. In addition, the pitfalls of applying U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) standards to psychosocial substance abuse studies in community setting needs more attention. The article includes specific suggestions for substance abuse researchers, treatment staff, and funding sources for producing high-quality psychosocial research in community-based programs.