This five-year experimental study, to be conducted by the UCLA Integrated Substance Abuse Programs, is designed to determine whether drug treatment programs designed specifically for women offenders provide better outcomes than the standard treatment programs now provided for them. Specifically, the study will determine the effectiveness of women-focused (WF) outpatient programs compared to standard mixed-gender (MG) outpatient programs to promote abstinence and other positive behaviors (e.g., reduced criminal activity and improved parenting skills) among women offenders deferred form incarceration through drug court. The proposed study involves the cooperation of eight drug court sites adjudication drug court defendants within Los Angeles Country, California, and the contracted community-based drug abuse treatment agencies providing treatment to the referred offenders. A conceptual framework of the study and the selection of measures and hypotheses is informed by relational theory, which posits that drug abuse and other antisocial behaviors can be traced to disconnections and violations within women's past relationships and that addressing these problems requires gender-responsive treatment approaches. A total of 300 women drug court participants who volunteer for the study will be randomly assigned to a WF or a MG outpatient treatment program at one of eight designated treatment sites. Participants will be assessed at four points during treatment: baseline (i.e., within 7 days of treatment entry), 4, 8, and 12-months. Participants will also be assessed at 24 months following baseline, or approximately 12 months following expected completion of treatment. Program administrators will provide data on the characteristics of the programs. A series of focus groups will elicit the views of women on WF or MG treatment.
The specific aims of the project are: (1) To evaluate the impact of WF programs on drug use, criminal activity, and social functioning (e.g., employment, education, parenting behavior) for women offenders, compared to the impact of MG programs; (2) To test elements of relational theory that are consistent with the WF program protocols in their ability to positively impact drug-dependent women offenders' relationship skills and psychological functioning; and (3) To qualitatively assess women's perceptions of their treatment experiences in the WF and MG treatment programs.
| Prendergast, Michael L; Messina, Nena P; Hall, Elizabeth A et al. (2011) The relative effectiveness of women-only and mixed-gender treatment for substance-abusing women. J Subst Abuse Treat 40:336-48 |
| Prendergast, Michael L (2009) Interventions to promote successful re-entry among drug-abusing parolees. Addict Sci Clin Pract 5:4-13 |
| Zvolensky, Michael J; Bernstein, Amit; Marshall, Erin C et al. (2006) Panic attacks, panic disorder, and agoraphobia: associations with substance use, abuse, and dependence. Curr Psychiatry Rep 8:279-85 |
