This article considers gender differences among 97 clients with dual diagnoses of severe mental illness and chemical dependency (46 male and 51 female). Comparisons are made at the time of their admission to an inpatient chemical dependency treatment program and at follow-up in cases where data are available. Many of the findings at time of admission are consistent with the few studies that have compared men and women with co-occurring mental and substance use disorders. For example, the women were more likely to have experienced emotional, physical, or sexual abuse, and they reported being charged with fewer types of crimes. Most differences at admission concerned psychiatric problems and family/social relations. Women reported that they were more bothered by their psychiatric symptoms and their family/social relations, but they also reported more happiness and closeness in some relationships. The women also said they had more relatives with alcohol, drug, and especially psychiatric, problems. At follow-up, gender differences in the family/social and psychiatric domains persisted. Findings suggest that men and women with dual diagnoses might benefit from different emphases in treatment programs.

Objective: A randomized experiment tested the effectiveness of adding a psychoeducationally oriented group therapy intervention, Good Chemistry Groups, to standard inpatient chemical dependency services for clients dually diagnosed with mental and substance dependence disorders. Method: Ninety-seven clients were randomly assigned to an experimental group (n = 48) and a control group (n = 49). Outcome variables included drug and alcohol use, participation in self-help support group meetings, incarceration days, psychiatric symptoms, psychiatric inpatient admissions, compliance with prescribed psychotropic medication plans, and composite scores on the Addiction Severity Index. Results: No significant treatment effects were found on any of the outcome variables. The findings were generally consistent with those of prior controlled studies. Conclusion: Good Chemistry Groups did not add to the effects of standard treatments for dually diagnosed clients. Practitioners should continue to develop and evaluate alternative integrated treatment approaches that might prove to be more effective than this one.

This study explores factors associated with self-help group meeting attendance in the aftercare of 81 clients with dual diagnoses of severe mental illness and chemical dependency following their discharge from an inpatient chemical dependency treatment program. It also explores the association between self-help group meeting attendance and treatment outcomes. Data were collected from patient records and results of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) administered as part of an earlier experiment that evaluated the effectiveness of the treatment program. Collaterals also provided follow-up information. Of thirteen variables examined, only two were associated with increased self-help group meeting attendance: having more years of education and having a major substance problem that did not include alcohol. No association was found between self-help group meeting attendance and treatment outcome regarding psychiatric problem severity or five other domains of the ASI. A moderate association was found indicating that more self-help group meeting attendance was related to improvements in the legal problems domain of the ASI. Implications are discussed for future research and for improving self-help group meeting attendance and its influence on treatment outcomes for individuals with dual diagnoses.

This article examines racial/ethnic differences in a sample of 51 dually diagnosed women who received chemical dependency treatment. Comparisons are made between Anglo and racial/ethnic minority women at admission to the inpatient treatment program and at follow-up where data are available. Findings from a repeated measures design showed significant decreases in several problem domains for the overall sample. Significant racial/ethnic differences were found only for the other drugs domain. Anglo women reported greater decreases than racial/ethnic minority women in the majority of the domains. Findings suggest continued investigations to inform culturally competent treatment for all dually diagnosed women.