Couple Treatment for Drug Abusing Women

ABSTRACT

Both theory and empirical data suggest that women's intimate partner relationships influence their use of drugs and their participation in treatment. In this study, 122 women who sought treatment at two outpatient drug treatment agencies were randomly assigned to one of three treatment conditions. In one couple therapy condition, the women were seen conjointly with their partners. In the second couple therapy condition, the women were seen individually but the focus of the intervention was on their partner relationships. The third group received the standard agency treatment protocol with no couple therapy-a Treatment As Usual (TAU) condition. The Addiction Severity Index (ASI) was used to measure women's drug and alcohol status prior to treatment, at the end of treatment, and at 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months post-treatment. All three groups reduced their scores from pretest to posttest on the ASI Alcohol scale. While there were some differences in mean scores between groups at 3 and 6 months, the groups did not differ at 1 year posttreatment, and had again reached the level they were at posttest. All three groups reduced their mean scores on the ASI Drug Use scale from pre-test to 3-month follow-up. The scores for the TAU group, however, rose significantly after 3 months while the two couples conditions maintained their gains at 6 and 12 months. The findings suggest that including a systemic couple treatment component in outpatient drug treatment for women can improve long-term outcome for drug use although not for alcohol use.

Key Words:

• Drug abuse
• drug abuse treatment
• women drug abusers
• couple therapy