Incest as a Treatment Issue for Alcoholic Women

Trauma history and relapse probability among patients seeking substance abuse treatment

“…In light of our data and that of others documenting the extremely high prevalence of traumatic events among SUD patients, we suspect that this treatment focus may contribute to the high SUD treatment dropout rates of both women and men (although this relationship has been better documented among women; see, for example, Kovach, 1986). The emphases in many SUD treatment programs on confrontation, powerlessness, surrender, and humility, while intended to reduce the narcissism thought to be characteristic of substance-abusing men (van Wormer, 1994), may be problematic for patients who are struggling with trauma-related concerns, particularly women (Golding et al, 2003).…”

The Relationship Between Intimate Partner Violence and the Use of Addictive Substances in Poor and Homeless Single Mothers

“…Programs serving substance-abusing women need to better understand the impact of trauma on health and mental health. Treatment may be compromised if issues related to childhood abuse, its interaction with PTSD, and adult partner violence are not identified (H. Brown, 1991;Finkelstein, 1993;Kovach, 1986;Rose, 1991). In addition, a woman and her child's safety may be intimately connected with this healing.…”

Alcohol abuse in individuals exposed to trauma: A critical review.

“…Results consistently reveal exceedingly high rates of self-reported sexual-abuse histories in samples of women with alcoholism (i.e., 24-85%), although the precise rates across studies vary widely (e.g., Cohen & Densen-Gerber, 1982;Kovach, 1986;Wilsnack, 1982Wilsnack, , 1984. Despite these differences, even the lowest rate is clinically significant when compared with base rates.…”

“…When such criteria were reported, they varied considerably across studies. Criteria for defining alcohol abuse-dependence have included attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings (e.g., Kovach, 1986), changes in overall rates of alcohol consumption in regions exposed to disaster (e.g., Gleser et al, 1981 ), a variety of social indices of alcohol abuse (e.g., E R. Adams & Adams, 1984), scores on self-report measures of alcohol-related problems (e.g., McFall et al, 1992), and the use of DSM-III or DSM-III-R criteria for alcohol abuse-dependence. Rates of comorbid alcoholism and PTSD obtained using DSM-III criteria are difficult to compare with those obtained using DSM-III-R criteria because the latter place less emphasis on physiological tolerance and withdrawal than did the former (Nace, 1988).…”

“…However, Swett et al ( 1991 ) showed that even early exposure to trauma is associated with high rates of alcohol abuse in adulthood. Kovach (1986) has postulated a delayedonset PTSD model to explain these findings. She suggested that the link between childhood abuse and adult alcohol problems might be mediated by a delayed onset of PTSD symptoms in adulthood with which the individuals attempt to cope through alcohol abuse.…”