Gender Differences in Substance-Abuse Treatment Clients With Co-occurring Psychiatric and Substance-Use Disorders

The study examined gender differences in a sample of 213 substance-abuse treatment clients with co-occurring severe and nonsevere psychiatric disorders. Results indicated that women had higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder. Males displayed greater severity on psychiatric measures and received a greater array of ancillary services during treatment yet reported less social and psychological problem days at admission. Conversely, females presented relatively greater substance-use severity but reported higher levels of psychosocial distress and less problem days related to substance use. These findings suggest gender differences in problem recognition may exist, with males more readily admitting to problems related to substance use and females more open to acknowledging the effects of social and psychiatric problems. The current results have clinical implications for both the assessment process and the treatment programming. [Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 6:255–267 (2006)]