The Impact of Comprehensive Services in Substance Abuse Treatment for Women With a History of Intimate Partner Violence

Abstract

This study examines the impact of comprehensive services on posttreatment substance use among women with a history of intimate partner violence. The sample includes 1,123 women from 50 treatment facilities derived from the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study (NTIES). Generalized linear mixed modeling was used to determine whether a history of intimate partner violence moderates the association between service receipt and posttreatment substance use. Significant interactions were found between history of intimate partner violence and concrete ( p = .016) and family services (p = .023) in predicting substance use.

Experiences of Violence and Association with Decreased Drug Abstinence Among Women in Cape Town, South Africa

“…These findings extend those of earlier studies that documented the effects of IPV on increasing women’s drug use, and build on the few existing studies that documented the negative effect of victimization on drug intervention outcomes among women [32–34] Specifically, we found that even after controlling for other factors associated with drug use abstinence, experiencing IPV or non-partner victimization was associated with a 40 % decreased likelihood of achieving abstinence. The deleterious effects of victimization on drug abstinence is also a particular concern given that continuing drug use among women participating in an HIV risk-reduction program is likely to impact negatively on HIV prevention goals.…”

“…The few studies that have examined whether experiences of partner violence inhibit women’s ability to stop using drugs support assertions that women with histories of partner victimization have poorer treatment outcomes than women without experiences of violence [31–34]. However, relatively little has been published on the effects of non-partner gender-based violence on drug use outcomes [35].…”

Intimate partner violence and drug-addicted women: from explicative models to gender-oriented treatments

“…Using, procuring and sharing drugs have, in fact, been underlined as sources of dispute and aggressiveness (Gilbert, El-Bassel, Rajah, Foleno, & Frye, 2001). This kind of setting in which both partners are drug users may also have negative effects on communication skills, facilitating the intensification of violence during arguments (Andrews, Cao, Marsh, & Shin, 2011). …”

“…This bidirectional relation between substance use and violence shows how both factors are involved in a “cycle of spiraling losses and increasing vulnerabilities” (El-Bassel, Gilbert, Wu, Go, & Hill, 2005). In this vicious circle, re-victimization plays the significant role which links past experiences of substance-related violence with the risk of further additional abuse (Andrews et al, 2011; Rivaux et al, 2008). …”

“…The first critical step in these processes is to provide them with a unique array of services which may increase their safety and their personal and social abilities: indeed, as a consequence of their history of abuse, women who have experienced intimate partner violence have specific and more complex needs. After being embedded in dangerous relationships, they may not initially benefit from standard substance abuse treatment programs or from other focused interventions, because of their urgent research of feeling safe (Andrews et al, 2011). …”