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Treatment programs and counselors can endorse these values within the program by using mentors from the community for women in early stages of recovery (Stahler et al. 2005). Overall, more attention is needed to involve and incorporate a multisystems framework including a family systems approach in treatment. Family therapy is characteristically a more pertinent mode of therapy for African-American women (Boyd-Franklin 1989). Another treatment concern expressed among some Hispanics/Latinas in treatment—particularly those who are highly acculturated or isolated from a larger Hispanic/Latino community—is alienation from their cultural heritage. It may be difficult to address cultural alienation in treatment because a client may be far removed from her cultural background. A therapeutic decision must be made whether a cultural framework for recovery and empowerment should be utilized for all clients or only for those who request or show interest in this approach.

• The same is true, by the way, in African countries, including Tanzania, where fear of social consequences, violence against women, and low access to prevention and treatment services seem to be more of a challenge than a need 38, especially since research and prevention initiatives seem to be rare in that country 41.
• Chan (1989) found that, although they identify both with their Asian-American and lesbian identities, most of these women identify more strongly as lesbian.
• SAMHSA’s mission is to lead public health and service delivery efforts that promote mental health, prevent substance misuse, and provide treatments and supports to foster recovery while ensuring equitable access and better outcomes.
• The literature has documented evidence showing that due to not including individuals who are incarcerated, experiencing homelessness, or hospitalized OUD rates in the NSDUH are 2-3 time lower than what it might be (Keyes et al., 2022).
• Unemployment hovers at about 13 percent for females older than age 16 (Indian Health Service IHS 2002).

Interpersonal and Intrapersonal Oppression

• The reasons for relapse in alcohol use are different for men and women; women tend to relapse to cope with negative affect, whereas men relapse due to social pressure to drink 12••.
• Nearly three-fourths (73.3 percent) of Alaska-Native women in one program reported sexual abuse histories (Brems 1996).
• Our results also echo Bauer’s (2014) recommendations for methodological application of intersectionality in public health, in particular through approaches to construct models that make intersectional effects visible to readers 5.
• Women who seek treatment pointed to the limitations of gender-sensitive treatment programs that may not consider their increased domestic responsibilities.
• Studies of nicotine show a potential greater saliency in the luteal phase of the cycle, and women quitting during the luteal phase reported significantly greater increases in tobacco withdrawal and self-reported depressive symptoms than women quitting during the follicular phase 43, 44.

Twenty percent of homeless admissions to substance abuse treatment are women, with admission rates higher among African-American women. Upon admission, prevalence rates of alcohol-related admissions were similar to all female admissions, while prevalence of cocaine/crack and heroin were more likely reported among homeless women (OAS 2004a). The development of empirically supported methods is evolving, yet research relevant to specific treatment needs among Asian- and Pacific-American women is sparse. Borrowing from the field of cross-cultural psychotherapy (Chang 2000; Leong and Lee 2006), treatment requires thorough assessment that includes such factors as circumstances of immigration, degree of assimilation, ethnic background, and health beliefs.

• This discrepancy could be related to methodological issues, for instance, this effect has been more clearly described in the population under treatment, maybe indicating that this phenomenon is more relevant in severe subjects.
• Identifying racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in alcohol-related problems is not always a straightforward task, partly because of differential abstinence rates across racial/ethnic and socioeconomic groups.
• The drug overdose death crisis in the United States has expanded and worsened over time, and is estimated to account for nearly 841,000 deaths since 1999 (CDC, 2021; Mattson et al., 2021).
• However, good practices conducive to improving the situation of women suffering from addiction are indicated.
• Taken together, these life-course drinking studies highlight racial/ethnic differences in the heavy-drinking trajectories of women in their early and mid-20s, which are consistent with the greater DSM-IV AUD risk observed during this period among young White women.

Study design and participants

Asian origins can be traced to many countries, including Cambodia, China, India, Japan, Korea, Laos, the Philippines, Vietnam, and others. By some counts, the number of national and ethnic groups is nearly 50, representing more than 60 primary languages (Barnes and Bennett 2002; Grieco 2001; New York State Education Department 1997). The three largest groups of Pacific Islanders are Hawaiians, Guamanians or Chamorros, and Samoans (from the Mariana Islands, of which Guam is the largest).

Subst. Abuse Rehabil.

An additional 23 percent reside in Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, Arizona, and New York (U.S. Census Bureau 2007). Women of Hispanic origin in the United States numbered 17 million or slightly less than half the total U.S. Receive free access to exclusive content, a personalized homepage based on your interests, and a weekly newsletter with the topics of your choice. All of these factors point to women absorbing more alcohol, and therefore having a higher blood alcohol content than men with a comparable dose of alcohol.

Treatment seeking and utilization among women with substance use disorders

Cultural knowledge can be empowering for many women of color, but not for all; care should be taken to adopt this approach only for those who are comfortable with it. Though men are more likely to have a drinking problem, there are unique physical and emotional factors that can lead women to have an unhealthy relationship with alcohol. Data were taken from the baseline survey assessments of socio-demographic information and the Wave 5 assessment of experience of discrimination, depressive symptoms, and use of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana within the past 30 days. In the case of psychological treatments, studies showed similar outcomes for men and women for cognitive-behavioral therapy and contingency management 105,106,107. In the case of alcohol, recent studies pointed out social factors that are more involved in the development of the disorder than sex genetic influences 63, 64.

With additional minority statuses, individuals are assumed to be at risk for incrementally poorer health 14, 26,27,28. For example, at the intersections of race, sex, and sexual orientation, a woman who is Black and sexual minority is assumed to have worst health outcomes (i.e., three “low”-status identities), whereas a man who is White and heterosexual would have best health outcomes (i.e., three “high”-status identities). In recent years, scholars have identified discrepancies in findings for the multiple jeopardy and criticized this approach for oversimplifying social realities 8, 29, though there Women and Alcoholism still remains a need for more empirical data to address these issues. At the intrapersonal or internalized level, oppression-based stressors reflect processes related to the internalization of oppression, which are considered proximal minority stressors and self-stigma in the minority stress model and sexual stigma theory, respectively. Additionally, oppression at the structural and interpersonal levels instills, shapes, and reinforces intrapersonal oppression-based processes.

Compared to men who did not experience discrimination, those who experienced either racial or sexual orientation discrimination had higher depressive symptoms, but we did not observe any effect of experiencing both forms of discrimination. Thus, research and initiatives to address discrimination and prejudices should pay close attention to the deleterious impacts of discrimination on women’s health, and future studies should continue to investigate effects of different types of discrimination and variations of effects between men and women. Statistical data on the use of various psychoactive substances indicate a narrowing of previous differences in substance use between men and women. Data from studies conducted among women suffering from drug addiction are increasingly published, with the authors highlighting the specific needs of this group and the difficulties that women with addiction problems encounter. The current study aimed to identify the barriers and needs of this audience, both when seeking help and during treatment.