Group therapy for women with substance use disorders: results from the Women's Recovery Group Study.
Shelly F Greenfield, Dawn E Sugarman, Cathryn M Freid, Genie L Bailey, Michele A Crisafulli, Julia S Kaufman, Sara Wigderson, Hilary S Connery, John Rodolico, Antonio A Morgan-Lopez, Garrett M Fitzmaurice
Author Information
Shelly F Greenfield: McLean Hospital, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Belmont, MA 02478, United States; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA 02115, United States; McLean Hospital, Division of Women's Mental Health, Belmont, MA 02478, United States. Electronic address: sgreenfield@mclean.harvard.edu.
Dawn E Sugarman: McLean Hospital, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Belmont, MA 02478, United States; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA 02115, United States; McLean Hospital, Division of Women's Mental Health, Belmont, MA 02478, United States.
Cathryn M Freid: McLean Hospital, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Belmont, MA 02478, United States.
Genie L Bailey: Brown University, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Providence, RI 02912, United States; Stanley Street Treatment and Resources, Fall River, MA 02720, United States.
Michele A Crisafulli: University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Department of Psychology, Baltimore, MD 21250, United States.
Julia S Kaufman: Miami University, Department of Psychology, Oxford, OH 45056, United States.
Sara Wigderson: McLean Hospital, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Belmont, MA 02478, United States; McLean Hospital, Division of Women's Mental Health, Belmont, MA 02478, United States.
Hilary S Connery: McLean Hospital, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Belmont, MA 02478, United States; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
John Rodolico: McLean Hospital, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Belmont, MA 02478, United States; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
Antonio A Morgan-Lopez: RTI International, Risk Behavior and Family Research Program, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709, United States.
Garrett M Fitzmaurice: McLean Hospital, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, Belmont, MA 02478, United States; Harvard Medical School, Department of Psychiatry, Boston, MA 02115, United States.
BACKGROUND: This Stage II trial builds on a Stage I trial comparing the single-gender women's Recovery Group (WRG) to mixed-gender Group Drug Counseling (GDC) that demonstrated preliminary support for the WRG in treating women with substance use disorders. The Stage II trial aims were to (1) investigate effectiveness of the WRG relative to GDC in a sample of women heterogeneous with respect to substance of abuse and co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and (2) demonstrate the feasibility of implementing WRG in an open-enrollment group format at two sites. METHOD: In this randomized clinical trial, participants were included if they were substance dependent and had used substances within the past 60 days (n=158). women were randomized to WRG (n=52) or GDC (n=48); men were assigned to GDC (n=58). Substance use outcomes were assessed at months 1-6 and 9. RESULTS: women in both the WRG and GDC had reductions in mean number of substance use days during treatment (12.7 vs 13.7 day reductions for WRG and GDC, respectively) and 6 months post-treatment (10.3 vs 12.7 day reductions); however, there were no significant differences between groups. CONCLUSIONS: The WRG demonstrated comparable effectiveness to standard mixed-gender treatment (i.e., GDC) and is feasibly delivered in an open-group format typical of community treatment. It provides a manual-based group therapy with women-focused content that can be implemented in a variety of clinical settings for women who are heterogeneous with respect to their substance of abuse, other co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and life-stage.
