Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

An Examination Of Three Transitional Events In The Substance Misuse Trajectories Of Women With Criminal Legal System Involvement, Martha Tillson

Theses and Dissertations--Sociology

Research has consistently demonstrated that criminal legal system (CLS)-involved women are distinct from men in initiation and course of drug use, with important differences on biological, environmental, and sociocultural levels. Thus, the unique pathways and transitions into and out of drug use for women with CLS involvement are critical to consider from a research perspective, but also from a need to develop and support evidence-based, women-centered services in correctional contexts. This dissertation project uses a three-paper format to investigate three aims: (1) to understand CLS-involved women’s initiations to injection drug use and their experiences providing injection initiation assistance (IIA) to …

Alcohol Use In Women: Resources And Recommendations For Counselors, Samantha Haling

Educational Specialist, 2020-current

The research shows that alcohol use is rising rapidly among women, resulting in devastating consequences that have not been sufficiently explored in counselor education and training. This paper aims to address this by providing a review of the literature which shows that women are more vulnerable to many of the physical and mental health consequences of alcohol use than men, and that they have unique treatment needs and face gender-specific risk factors and barriers to treatment. The review examines the interaction between gender and alcohol use, summarizes the existing research on the physical and behavioral health consequences of alcohol use …

An Occupational Therapy Approach To Developing Empowerment: Supporting The Recovery Of Women Affected By Substance Abuse In A Residential Treatment Facility, Margaret Schneider-Adams, Molly Schneider-Adams

OTD Capstone Projects

An Occupational Therapy Approach to Developing Empowerment: Supporting the Recovery of Women Affected by Substance Abuse in a Residential Treatment Facility Capstone project poster and presentation in fulfillment of Doctorate of Occupational Therapy Program at Belmont University.

A Latent Profile Analysis Of Rural Women Who Use Drugs And Commit Crimes, Michele Staton, Amanda M. Bunting, Erika Pike, Danelle Stevens-Watkins

Journal of Rural Social Sciences

The majority of rural Appalachian women in jail meet criteria for a drug use disorder and need treatment. Using a latent profile analysis of a random sample of rural women in Appalachian jails (N=400) the current study established groups of women based on criminal history, drug use in the commission of crimes, and role of the partner’s drug use in the commission of crimes. Analysis found five distinct profiles of rural women based on involvement of criminal activities as a function of drug use severity. Results suggest that among criminally involved rural women, severity of drug use is a critical …

Coaching Women On The Impact Of Alcohol Intake On Mental Well-Being: A Systematic Literature Review, Amy Maloney

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Alcohol intake among women has increased in recent years. Women’s bodies metabolize alcohol differently when compared to men and are at increased risk for adverse effects, both physically and mentally. The purpose of this systematic literature review is to explore the evidence related to the impact of coaching in primary care on drinking behaviors and over-all well-being of women. Four databases including PsycInfo, Academic Search Premier, CINAHL Plus with full text, and Gender Studies Database were searched using a variety of key words. Studies were included if they focused on female alcohol use and abuse, interventions specific to female alcohol …

The Importance Of Shared Language In Rural Behavioral Health Interventions: An Exploratory Linguistic Analysis, Michele Staton, Jennifer Cramer, Robert Walker, Claire Snell-Rood, Athena Kheibari

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

A focus on the use of shared language to enhance congruence in interventionist-client dialogue is missing from traditional research on evidence-based practices and rural behavioral health. This study incorporates qualitative interactional sociolinguistics, which includes discourse analysis (typically written or audio recordings of face-to-face encounters with 11 clients and a study interventionist), to describe those speech patterns in a broad sense (dialect), as well as more specific use of communicative strategies to increase parity in the interaction between a rural interventionist delivering an evidence-based practice in the context of a research study with rural women opioid users in a non-therapeutic context. …

Social Work Trauma Interventions: Dialectical Behavioral Therapy, Kassie Baumann

Senior Honors Theses

According to Lynne Weilart (2013), in her article on the reasons why people seek out therapy, trauma is the number one reason people attend counseling. Many different trauma-informed approaches are designed specifically to address the consequences of trauma and to facilitate healing. Some of these approaches are as follows: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT); Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT);Mentalization Based Therapy (MBT); Trauma Systems Therapy (TST); Trauma Assessment Pathway (TAP); and Attachment, Self-Regulation, and Competency (ARC) (de Arellano, Danielson, Ko, & Sprauge, 2008). The effectiveness of each trauma intervention will be examined. DBT is one of these trauma interventions that is growing …

Pornography As A Public Health Issue: Promoting Violence And Exploitation Of Children, Youth, And Adults, Elisabeth Taylor

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

The pornography industry is expanding exponentially as a result of ongoing technological advances. The ability to stream videos over the internet and the ubiquity of the smart phone have meant that pornography producers are able to use algorithms to target potential consumers, to cultivate new sexual tastes and to deliver content to a more diverse audience over mobile devices. The advent of virtual reality pornography with interactive sex toys and sex robots imbued with artificial intelligence promises to unleash a further step-change in the extent to which pornography influences ‘real-world’ sexual culture. The critical analysis of pornography undertaken over decades …

Sexual Coercion, Drinking To Cope Motives, And Alcohol-Related Consequences Among Self-Identified Bisexual Women, Michelle L. Kelly, Sarah J. Ehlke, Robin J. Lewis, Abby L. Braitman, Wendy Bostwick, Kristin E. Heron, Cathy Lau-Barraco

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Given higher sexual victimization and greater alcohol use among bisexual women, a critical public health challenge is to understand within-group variation that may heighten or explain these associations in bisexual women. Objectives: The present study tested a moderated-mediation model in which sexual coercion was hypothesized to be associated with alcohol-related consequences via drinking to cope motives in self-identified bisexual women who reported at least occasional binge drinking. Negative affect was hypothesized to moderate the sexual coercion-drinking to cope motives association. Methods: Participants were a community sample of 107 self-identified bisexual women (age M = 20.97, SD = 2.11) who …

Partner Relationships And Injection Sharing Practices Among Rural Appalachian Women, Michele Staton, Justin C. Strickland, Martha Tillson, Carl Leukefeld, J. Matthew Webster, Carrie B. Oser

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Background—The role of relationships in initiating and maintaining women’s risk behaviors has been established. However, understanding factors that may underlie partner relationships and women’s risky drug use, particularly in rural contexts, is limited. This study is the first to examine the association between injecting partners and women’s risky injection practices as a function of relationship power perception.

Methods—Female participants were recruited from three rural jails in the Appalachian region. Women were randomly selected, provided informed consent, and screened for study eligibility criteria. This cross-sectional analysis focuses on women who inject drugs (WWID) during the year before entering jail …

Serious Mental Illness Among Young Adult Women Who Use Drugs In The Club Scene: Co-Occurring Biopsychosocial Factors, Maayan Lawental, Hilary L. Surratt, Mance E. Buttram, Steven P. Kurtz

Center for Health Services Research Faculty Publications

Young women who regularly attend nightclubs are at risk for numerous health and social consequences, including mental distress, sexual and physical victimization and substance dependence. This paper uses a biopsychosocial framework to examine co-occurring mental health problems, victimization, substance dependence, sexual risk and physical pain among a sample of young women who use drugs (N = 222) in Miami’s club scene. The majority of women were under 24 years old, Hispanic, and identified as heterosexual. Almost all the women reported past 90-day use of alcohol, ecstasy/MDMA, marijuana, cocaine and prescription opioids and benzodiazepines; 32% of women reported being in a …

Age Of First Arrest, Sex, And Drug Use As Correlates Of Adult Risk Behaviors Among Rural Women In Jails, Martha Tillson, Justin C. Strickland, Michele Staton

Center on Drug and Alcohol Research Faculty Publications

Incarcerated women frequently report initiation of substance use and sexual encounters at an early age, and often engage in high-risk drug use and sexual behaviors as adults. This study examined the timing of first sex, drug use, and arrest, as well as their unique influences on specific risky behaviors in adulthood, among a high-risk population of rural women recruited from jails. Ages of initiation were all positively and significantly correlated, and each independently increased the likelihood of several risky behaviors in adulthood. Implications are discussed for screening, intervention, and treatment targeting high-risk women and girls in rural areas, particularly within …

The Effects Of A Brief Yoga Intervention On Psychologic And Physiologic Measures In Women Recovering From Substance Abuse Disorders, Robi C. Hopp

DNP Scholarly Projects

Women are the fastest-growing population experiencing substance use disorders (SUDs) in the United States. Multiple barriers e.g., mental health disorders, reduced self-efficacy, lack of social support have been identified and negatively impact acute and sustainable recovery efforts. The aim of this project was to evaluate the effects of yoga on mood status, biometrics, and self-efficacy toward yoga in a cohort at The Next Door, a substance abuse treatment center for women only. This was a quasi-experimental research approach with 14 women completing a total of 8 weekly yoga sessions over a ten-week period. Appropriate demographic data was collected. Measurements were …

Experiences Of Postpartum Women In One Residential Treatment Facility For Substance Use Disorders: A Qualitative Case Study, Rebecca Jo Williams

Online Theses and Dissertations

A growing opioid crisis in the United States has sparked a need for gender-specific research and treatment to address unmet needs and promote positive health outcomes for both women and children. The primary purpose of this research is to provide insight into the experiences and perceptions of postpartum women with substance use disorders receiving care at one residential treatment facility. Two women, aged 22 and 27 years old, participated in semi-structured interviews designed to elicit perceptions about barriers to treatment, the value of various programs, the role of physical, social, and temporal contexts in treatment, and beliefs about the effect …

Sexual Behavior And Substance Use Among Women Across The Spectrum Of Sexual Orientation, Margaret M. Wolff

Dissertations and Theses

Background: Compared to non-sexual minority women, sexual minority women are at greater risk for substance use and abuse, sexual risk behaviors, and unplanned teen pregnancy; few studies measure differing associations by sexual orientation (e.g., identity, behavior, attraction) or discordance (e.g., heterosexually-identified women with female partners) components. Minority stress may explain sexual minority women’s health disparities; thus, as U.S. policies evolve to reflect growing acceptance of all sexual minorities, research should examine sexual minority women’s health risk behaviors using multidimensional constructs of sexual orientation.

Methods: Using the female sample of the 2002-2013 National Survey of Family Growth (Aims 1-2 n=25,523; …

Meeting The Unique Treatment Needs Of Female Gamblers: A Workbook And Webinar Effectiveness Pilot Study, Roberta R. Boughton, Farah Jindani, Nigel Turner

International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking

While past decades have seen a dramatic increase in the number of women who gamble and develop consequent problems, treatment services are being underutilized in Ontario, especially by women.

This pilot aimed to be responsive to this concern, circumventing barriers by inviting access to support through the use of two interventions. One was a mailed self-help workbook designed for women. The second utilized the workbook in a clinician facilitated group context using teleconferencing in conjunction with webinar technology. This small pragmatic pilot aimed to both get feedback on the helpfulness of the workbook and to explore the feasibility of using …

African American Female Offender's Use Of Alternative And Traditional Health Services After Re-Entry: Examining The Behavioral Model For Vulnerable Populations, Carrie B. Oser, Amanda M. Bunting, Erin L. Pullen, Danelle Stevens-Watkins

Sociology Faculty Publications

This is the first known study to use the Gelberg-Andersen Behavioral Model for Vulnerable Populations to predict African American women's use of three types of health services (alternative, hospitalization, and ambulatory) in the 18 months after release from prison. In the multivariate models, the most robust predictors of all three types of service utilization were in the vulnerable theoretical domains. Alternative health services were predicted by ethnic community membership, higher religiosity, and HIV/HCV. Hospitalizations were predicted by the lack of barriers to health care and disability. Ambulatory office visits were predicted by more experiences of gendered racism, a greater number …

An Analysis Of Women’S Access To Acute Opioid Detoxification Services In Maine: Identifying The Barriers To Treatment, Karen E. Conley

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

The lack of treatment facilities and services for opioid use disorder in Maine, combined with an increased prevalence of addiction, creates a potential for health inequity between men and women that may be intensified by barriers in access to care. This capstone study utilized detoxification screening inquiry forms and data obtained from the Milestone Foundation’s acute opioid detoxification program to assess and categorize barriers to access by gender. A barriers model was developed based on existing literature and was to identify potential associations among and between the known barriers to accessing treatment. Barriers were described as internally or externally based, …

The Relationship Between Religiosity And Health-Promoting Behaviors In Pregnant Women At Pregnancy Resource Centers, Natalie Cyphers, Andrea D. Clements, Jody L. Ralph

ETSU Faculty Works

Abstract available through the Annals of Behavioral Medicine.

A Randomized Controlled Trial Of A Videoconferencing Smoking Cessation Intervention For Korean American Women: Preliminary Findings, Sun S. Kim, Somporn Sitthisongkram, Kunsook Bernstein, Hua Fang, Won S. Choi, Douglas Ziedonis

Publications and Research

Introduction: Korean women are reluctant to pursue in-person smoking cessation treatment due to stigma attached to women smokers and prefer treatment such as telephone and online smoking cessation programs that they can access secretively at home. However, there is some evidence that face-to-face interaction is the most helpful intervention component for them to quit smoking.

Methods: This study is a pilot clinical trial that examined the acceptability and feasibility of a videoconferencing smoking cessation intervention for Korean American women and compared its preliminary efficacy with a telephone-based intervention. Women of Korean ethnicity were recruited nationwide in the United States and …

Conducting Qualitative Interviews By Telephone: Lessons Learned From A Study Of Alcohol Use Among Sexual Minority And Heterosexual Women, Laurie Drabble, Karen Trocki, Brenda Salcedo, Patricia Walker, Rachael Korcha

Faculty Publications

This study explored effective interviewer strategies and lessons learned based on collection of narrative data by telephone with a subsample of women from a population-based survey, which included sexual minority women. Qualitative follow-up, in-depth life history interviews were conducted over the telephone with 48 women who had participated in the 2009–2010 National Alcohol Survey. Questions explored the lives and experiences of women, including use of alcohol and drugs, social relationships, identity, and past traumatic experiences. Strategies for success in interviews emerged in three overarching areas: (1) cultivating rapport and maintaining connection; (2) demonstrating responsiveness to interviewee content, concerns; and (3) …

Association Between Childhood Sexual Abuse And Hiv-Related Risk Factors For Hiv-Positive Haitian Women, Marie Sandra Severe

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Childhood sexual abuse (CSA) is one of the least studied HIV-related risk factors in Haiti although research in the United States and Europe has clearly established the link between childhood trauma and HIV risk behaviors. Understanding the role and impact of CSA on HIV-positive Haitian women is likely to strengthen future HIV prevention and treatment efforts aimed at this vulnerable group.

The current study was a cross-sectional examination of baseline data collected during a randomized trial of a cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) intervention in Haiti. The purpose of this study was to analyze the association between CSA and sexual risk …

Attachment, Anxiety, And Depression: A Study Of Women In Residential Treatment With Their Children At The Susan B. Anthony Recovery Center (Sbarc) (1995-2010), Gary Miles Forrest

Department of Family Therapy Dissertations and Applied Clinical Projects

The Susan B. Anthony Recovery Center (SBARC) in Pembroke Pines, Florida is a residential center where women live with their children while receiving treatment for a variety of co-occurring substance abuse and mental health issues and while participating in mandatory parenting classes. Unlike most women's residential treatment centers, which address only the woman and her problems, SBARC treats the mother-infant/child dyad. I designed and created a database to examine the data previously available only in the paper client records of over 800 women who received treatment at SBARC from 1995 through 2010 in a previous project. This nonexperimental, retrospective explanatory …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Experience Of Counseling For Women With Addictions, Jennifer Karin Londgren

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This qualitative study explores the experience of counseling for women with addiction issues. Six women with varying ethnic and racial backgrounds between the ages of 24-44 years old participated in the study. Each woman was diagnosed with a substance use disorder and had to have participated in at least five counseling sessions to be included in the study. The study utilized a phenomenological methodology, which seeks to understand the core essence of the phenomenon of counseling itself. Each woman was interviewed once for at least 45 minutes and two women were interviewed twice. These interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, and …

Alcohol In The Life Narratives Of Women: Commonalities And Differences By Sexual Orientation, Laurie A. Drabble, K. Trocki

Faculty Publications

Aim: The aim of this study was to explore social representations of alcohol use among women, with a focus on possible differences between sexual minority and heterosexual women. Methods: This qualitative study was part of a larger study examining mediators of heavier drinking among sexual minority women (lesbian identified, bisexual identified, and heterosexual identified with same sex partners) compared to heterosexual women based on the National Alcohol Survey. Qualitative in-depth life history interviews were conducted over the telephone with 48 women who had participated in the 2009–2010 National Alcohol Survey, including respondents representing different sexual orientation groups. Questions explored the …

Prospective Patterns And Correlates Of Quality Of Life Among Women In Substance Abuse Treatment, Elizabeth M. Tracy, Alexandre Laudet, Meeyoung Oh Min, Hyunsoo Kim, Suzanne Brown, Min Kyoung Jun, Lynn Singer

Social Work Faculty Publications

Background Quality of life (QOL) is increasingly recognized as central to the broad construct of recovery in sub- stance abuse services. QOL measures can supplement more objective symptom measures, identify specific service needs and document changes in functioning that are associated with substance use patterns. To date however, QOL remains an under investigated area in the addictions field, especially in the United States.

Methods This study examines patterns and predictors of QOL at 1 and 6 months post treatment intake among 240 women enrolled in substance abuse treatment in Cleveland, Ohio. The World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) measure …

Substance Abuse Treatment Stage And Personal Networks Of Women In Substance Abuse Treatment, Elizabeth M. Tracy, Hyunsoo Kim, Suzanne Brown, Meeyoung Oh Min, Min Kyoung Jun, Christopher Mccarty

Social Work Faculty Publications

This study examines the relationship among 4 treatment stages (i.e., engagement, persuasion, active treatment, relapse prevention) and the composition, social support, and structural characteristics of personal networks. The study sample includes 242 women diagnosed with substance dependence who were interviewed within their first month of intensive outpatient treatment. Using EgoNet software, the women reported on their 25 alter personal networks and the characteristics of each alter. With one exception, few differences were found in the network compositions at different stages of substance abuse treatment. The exception was the network composition of women in the active treatment stage, which included more …

Predictors Of Depressive Symptomatology In Family Caregivers Of Wom-En With Substance Use Disorders Or Co-Occurring Substance Use And Mental Disorders, David E. Biegel, Shari Katz-Saltzman, David Meeks, Suzanne Brown, Elizabeth M. Tracy

Social Work Faculty Publications

This study utilized a stress-process model to examine the impact of having a female family member with substance use or co-occurring substance use and mental disorders on family caregivers' depressive symptomatology. Participants were 82 women receiving substance abuse treatment and the family member providing the most social support for each woman. Greater caregiver depressive symptomatology was predicted by greater care recipient emotional problems, less care recipient social support, and poor caregiver health. Implications of findings for treatment and future research are discussed

Gender Differences In Hiv And Hepatitis C Related Vulnerabilities Among Aboriginal Young People Who Use Street Drugs In Two Canadian Cities, Azar Mehrabadi, Katharina Paterson, Margo Pearce, Sheetal Patel, Kevin J. Craib, Akm Moniruzzaman, Martin T. Schechter, Patricia M. Spittal

Aboriginal Policy Research Consortium International (APRCi)

Objectives: Vulnerability to HIV and Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection for indigenous populations worldwide must be contextualized in experiences of current and past trauma. Aboriginal women entrenched in poverty face further gender-specific harms which place them at increased risk for HIV infection.

Methods: This study was cross-sectional and based on a community-based sample of Aboriginal young people (Métis, Abo- riginal, First Nations, Inuit, and non-status Indians) between the ages of 14 and 30 years who used injection or non-injection non- cannabis illegal drugs (street drugs) in the previous month. Between October 2003 and July 2005, 543 participants living in either …

Alcoholism: A Barrier To Empowerment For Women, Marion Brink

New England Journal of Public Policy

Women's increasing economic power has encouraged the promotion of their drinking as fashionable. However, women are more vulnerable to the impact of alcohol, and the stigma attached to alcoholism is greater for them than it is for men. As a consequence, a woman — and those around her — will deny her alcoholism until she has lost much more than her male counterparts. When, or if, she seeks help for this devastating disease, she finds a lack of woman-specific programs and facilities. This article notes the barriers to recovery for women and offers some suggestions for breaking them down. Two …