High Psychiatric Symptom Severity Is a Moderator of Substance Abuse Treatment Outcomes Among Women in Single vs. Mixed Gender Group Treatment

Shelly F. Greenfield M.D., M.P.H.ab*, Jennifer Sharpe Potter Ph.D., M.P.H.ab, Melissa F. Lincolna, Rebecca E. Popuch B.A.a, Laura Kuper B.A.a & Robert J. Gallop Ph.D.ca McLean Hospital, Belmont, Massachusetts, USAb Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USAc West Chester University, West Chester, Pennsylvania, USA† Correspondence: Shelly F. Greenfield, McLean Hospital, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Treatment Program, 115 Mill St., Belmont, MA, 02478, USAObjective: This exploratory study examined psychiatric symptom severity as a moderator of outcomes among women receiving either the Women's Recovery Group (WRG), a new manualized group treatment for substance use disorders combining single-gender group composition and women-focused content, or Group Drug Counseling (GDC), an empirically supported mixed-gender group treatment. Methods: We used a mixed model analysis of variance. Results: We found a significant 3-way interaction effect of treatment condition, time, and baseline Brief Symptom Inventory scores as well as Beck Depression Inventory scores. Conclusion: Single-gender group treatment may confer added benefit for women with substance abuse and high psychiatric symptom severity than mixed-gender treatment.