The Effectiveness of Three Inpatient Intervention Strategies for Chemically Dependent Women

Abstract

Objective: This study investigated the effectiveness of three inpatient substance abuse intervention strategies for women: female-sensitive treatment, mixed-gender treatment, and combination mixed-gender/female-sensitive treatment. Method: Eighty-nine women in three treatment facilities were evaluated over a 3-month period on levels of self-esteem, social support, depression, and severity of addiction. It was hypothesized that (1) these women would exhibit lower levels of self-esteem and perceived social support and higher levels of depression compared to the median scores of each instrument and (2) women in all three groups would experience improvement on the outcome variables over the 3-month period, with the female-sensitive intervention producing the greatest improvement. Results: Results supported Hypothesis 1 for social support but not depression or self-esteem. Hypothesis 2 was not supported; none of the groups improved on any outcome measures. Conclusion: The results underscore the necessity for more research on effectiveness of various treatment approaches for chemically dependent women.