NCJ Number
174481
Journal
Substance Use and Misuse Volume: 32 Issue: 6 Dated: 1997 Pages: 653-678
Date Published
1998
Length
36 pages
Annotation
A longitudinal study of 330 women and men participating in 26 outpatient drug treatment programs in Los Angeles County sought to determine the gender paradox; this paradox rests on research consistently indicating that women possess risk factors associated with relapse, but they are no more likely and are possibly less likely than men to relapse.
Abstract
The study was part of the evaluation of the Los Angeles Target Cities Project funded by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment. It examined the hypotheses proposed to explain the paradox: (1) that the magnitude of women's drug use is generally less than that of their male counterparts, (2) that women have higher levels of social support that tends to facilitate recovery, and (3) that women are more likely than men to stay in treatment and participate often in counseling and other services. Findings offered no support for the drug severity and social support hypotheses, but did offer some support for the treatment engagement hypothesis. Specially, women participated more often in group counseling, which, in turn, lowered their rate of relapse despite their having more risk factors for relapse. Further analyses indicated that the greater participation of women in group counseling did not stem from child-custody or other gender differences in the reasons for entering treatment, nor did it result from the enhanced services associated with the Target Cities Project. Instead, the differences in treatment engagement for women and men may result from gender norms concerning help-seeking, personal independence, strength, and control. Tables, author biographies and photographs, and 57 references (Author abstract modified)