Measurement of gender-sensitive treatment for women in mixed-gender substance abuse treatment programs

• Published in: Drug and alcohol dependence Vol. 123; no. 1; pp. 160 - 166
• Main Authors: Tang, Zhiqun, Claus, Ronald E, Orwin, Robert G, Kissin, Wendy B, Arieira, Carlos
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shannon Elsevier Ireland Ltd 01-06-2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Addictive behaviors; Admissions; Adult; Adult and adolescent clinical studies; Biological and medical sciences; Cost effectiveness; Cost-Benefit Analysis; Costs and Cost Analysis; Counseling; Desintoxication. Drug withdrawal; Drug addiction; Environment; Female; Gender Sensitivity; Health Personnel; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Miscellaneous; Mixed-gender; Models, Statistical; Psychiatry; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Rasch modeling; Residential Treatment; Sex Factors; Short term residential (STR); Social services; Substance abuse; Substance abuse treatment; Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; Substance-Related Disorders - economics; Substance-Related Disorders - rehabilitation; Treatment methods; Treatment Outcome; Treatments; Women; Gender Sensitivity; Substance abuse treatment; Rasch modeling; Short term residential (STR); Mixed-gender; Short term; Human; Drug addiction; Program; Poison withdrawal; Sex; Substance abuse; Gender; Rasch model; Tandemly repeated sequence; Population genetics; Mixture; Sensitivity; Treatment; Addiction; Female; Woman
• ISSN: 0376-8716; 1879-0046
• DOI: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2011.11.003

Abstract Background Gender-sensitive (GS) substance abuse treatment services have emerged in response to the multidimensional profile of problems that women display upon admission to substance abuse treatment. The present study examines the extent to which treatment programs vary in GS programming for women in real-world mixed-gender treatment settings, where most women are treated. Methods Data were collected through site visits using semi-structured interviews with program directors, clinical directors, and counselors in 13 mixed-gender treatment programs from Washington State. Rasch modeling techniques were used to analyze the data. Results Naturally occurring variation was revealed within and across the treatment programs, and demonstrated that reliable measures of three GS domains ( Grella, 2008 ) can be constructed despite a small number of programs. Conclusions This is the first study to quantify GS treatment for substance abusing women. The identified treatment services and practices and the way they clustered together to form scales have practical implications for researchers, service providers, clinicians, and policy makers. The scales can be used to study treatment outcomes and to evaluate the effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and cost-benefit of GS programming for women.