Background
Substance-free recovery housing has emerged as a promising long-term treatment modality for substance use disorder; and while gender has proven an important predictive factor in other treatment contexts, it remains understudied in this arena. Compared to men, women are more likely to enter treatment with more complex diagnoses (e.g., co-occurring disorders) after fewer years of use and with more problems related to family, employment, and physical health. This study contributes novel evidence to the field by examining gender differences of recovery capital predictors and outcomes in a community-based sample of Delaware recovery home residents.
Methods
Participants included 120 individuals (73 women) residing in recovery homes who consented to complete 10 monthly surveys assessing demographics, mental health, and recovery outcomes. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses were used to explore gender differences in residents’ demographics, mental health, and economic wellbeing.
Results
Preliminary results suggest that women were more likely to have children, ꭓ2 (1, N = 120) = 9.63, p < .01; reported more lifetime psychiatric disorder diagnoses (women, M = 2.71; men, M = 1.64; t(118.00) = -4.64, p < .001); and, over the 10-month period, averaged higher levels of depression (women, M = 10.76; men, M = 8.65; t(652.36) = -3.87, p < .001), perceived stress (women, M = 6.40; men, M = 5.61; t(685.47) = -3.40, p < .001), and financial strain (women, M = 14.46; men, M = 10.71; t(670.38) = -7.51, p < .001).
Conclusion
These results contribute to a growing evidence base suggesting that women and men enter treatment facing different challenges and their process of recovery continues to look different over the long-term. Thus, it may be important to consider gender-responsive programming in recovery housing contexts as one way to meet gender-specific needs and strengths that women bring to recovery settings.
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