142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Home Events & Meetings Annual Meeting Schedule & Program

Online Program

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

308658
Gender Differences in a Social Stress Model Predicting Addiction Severity after Substance Abuse Treatment

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Monday, November 17, 2014

Elizabeth Wahler, PhD , School of Social Work, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN
Cristy Cummings, MSW , School of Social Work, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI
Background:  Understanding factors predicting addiction severity (AS) is important since higher AS is associated with increased risk of disease, accidents, and risky health behaviors.  Characteristics associated with social disadvantage are correlated with increased stress and decreased available coping resources, but it is unknown whether they are predictive of post-treatment AS.

Methods:  A social stress theoretical (Pearlin, 1989) model was created and included factors associated with social disadvantage, economic hardship, and perceived stress. The model was tested using path analysis in a secondary dataset from a statewide sample of substance abuse treatment participants (N = 1123) to determine if it predicted drug and alcohol AS 12-months after treatment.  Gender differences were examined.

Results:   Model fit statistics were better for women than men, although the model explained more of the variance in AS for men (alcohol AS R2 = .242, drug AS R2 = .194) than women (alcohol AS R2 = .133, drug AS R2= .205).  For both genders, significant paths were found between unemployment and both economic hardship and stress, which both then predicted higher drug and alcohol AS.  However, having a dependent child was a protective factor for women and was predictive of lower AS.  Perceived stress had a larger effect on AS for men than women. 

Conclusions:  The model holds promise for predicting post-treatment drug and alcohol AS and could be further studied for guiding treatment efforts. Treatment programs should consider providing employment assistance to reduce economic hardship, stress, AS, and addiction-related risks.

Learning Areas:

Other professions or practice related to public health
Social and behavioral sciences
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health

Learning Objectives:
Discuss how social disadvantage affects follow-up addiction severity after substance abuse treatment. Describe gender differences in factors predicting follow-up addiction severity.

Keyword(s): Alcohol Use, Drug Abuse

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: This work is an extension of my dissertation research, which focused in-depth on the relationship between social disadvantage, stress, relapse, and follow-up addiction severity in substance abuse treatment participants. Additionally, I have over 14 years of experience in practice and research related to the substance abuse field, specializing primarily in treatment approaches for people living in poverty.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3295.0: Treatment (Alcohol)