Paper
Sunday, November 4, 2007
268
Integrated Intervention for Abused Women in Drug Treatment
Benita Jeanne Walton-Moss, DNS1, Jacquelyn C. Campbell, RN, PhD, FAAN1, and Mary E. McCaul, PhD2. (1) School of Nursing, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA, (2) School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
| Learning Objective #1: describe the gaps in published research related to women, substance abuse, and intimate partner violence. |
| Learning Objective #2: describe the results of an intervention for women in substance abuse treatment affected by intimate partner violence. |
Background. Up to 90% of women in substance abuse treatment report lifetime histories of intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization and/or perpetration, with more than half reporting IPV in the past year. Most research on IPV related to substance abuse has been limited to victimization focusing on alcohol as the abused substance; use of other drugs and women’s concomitant roles as perpetrators of IPV have rarely been addressed. Purpose. To compare IPV victimization and perpetration (as measured by The Revised Conflicts Tactics Scale) of women participating in an integrated substance use disorder IPV cognitive behavioral therapy (SUD-IPV CBT) with women receiving in treatment as usual (TAU). Method. This SUD-IPV CBT was modified from Seeking Safety, a successful, established therapy originally designed for substance abuse and posttraumatic stress disorder. Modified treatment consisted of weekly 1 ½ hour sessions over an 8-week period. Early pilot-testing conducted in a university-affiliated substance abuse treatment center with preliminary findings examined at completion of treatment and 3-months post treatment provided on 17 women exposed to the treatment compared with a convenience sample of 38 women receiving substance abuse TAU. Results. Women in the integrated SUD-IPV CBT group showed larger reductions in violence scores (victimization, perpetration, and overall score). The intervention had a greater impact on IPV perpetration than victimization (p=.09) at the end of treatment, with slower declines at 3-month in most IPV categories (psychological, physical, & injury). Women in the SUD-IPV group completing at least 5 versus fewer (referred to as drop-out) sessions demonstrated the greatest improvement. Conclusions. Results from early pilot testing are favorable supporting continued testing with randomized controlled trial methods. Should these findings be confirmed in future research this treatment has potential to help substantial numbers of women affected by IPV. Funded by DA13955