Utilization of Substance Abuse Treatment: Gender Differences among Participants in an Aftercare Program

Abstract

This study examined gender differences in the utilization of substance abuse treatment including inpatient, outpatient, and self-help services, using existing data sets from a National Institute on Drug Abuse study that enrolled 78 females and 141 males in a mixed-gender aftercare program in Massachusetts for a 2-year follow-up period. This study found that women came to the study in greater need of treatment than men. Women utilized significantly more outpatient treatment services than men. The characteristic of female per se led to more utilization of outpatient services, whereas the baseline characteristics of employed status and alcohol use led to less utilization of outpatient services.

Keywords::

• Substance abuse services utilization
• gender differences in substance abuse treatment utilization
• utilization of substance abuse inpatient
• outpatient
• and self-help services

The author gratefully acknowledges that Dr. Donald Shepard kindly provided the data used in this article from the National Institute on Drug Abuse study (R01 DA 08739), and offered invaluable comments and support.