Trauma prevalence and psychological distress among substance using women

Objective: To examine past traumatic experiences in context of psychological distress among substance using women participating in the SAMSHA funded, Integrated Services to Avert Risk (ISTAR) program.

Methods: From October 2013 to January 2015 baseline data was collected for 110 women in an intensive outpatient substance abuse treatment program via the Preliminary Intake Assessment and the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) instrument.

Results:  Eighty percent (n=88) of the women reported past violent and/or traumatic experience(s). Those who reported trauma also reported having nightmares (81.8%), trying hard not to think about the event(s) (81.8%), being on guard (69.3%), and feeling numb and detached (69.3%) as consequence(s).  Additionally, 92.3% of women reported to be bothered by psychological distress in the past 30 days. Past trauma experience is concurrent with experiences of serious depression (64.8%), severe anxiety and tension (69.3%), and trouble understanding, concentrating or remembering (53.4%) in the past 30 days. Thirty percent of women self-reported mental health diagnosis that included depression (15.9%), bi-polar disorder (9.1%), anxiety (8%), schizophrenia (5.7%) and post-traumatic stress disorder (2%). Among the women that reported trauma, methamphetamine (43.2%) was the primary drug of choice, following by marijuana (19.3%), alcohol (17%), cocaine (8%), heroin (5.7%), and prescription medication (4.5%). The participants were predominantly Hispanic (36.4%), followed by Caucasian (33 %), and African-American (26.1%).

Conclusions: Examining the association between experienced trauma and psychological distress gives insight that substance using women are in need of integrated trauma-informed services to address coexisting issues.