Towards Best Practices in the Treatment of Women With Addictive Disorders

The study of addiction in women has been given increasing recent attention. Documented gender differences in a variety of domains, including substance craving, have prevention and treatment implications. This article reviews gender differences and sex-specific effects of addiction as they relate to treatment guidelines for women with substance-related disorders. Gender differences in the following domains are summarized: screening, physiological effects of substances, medical consequences, psychiatric comorbidity, craving, and family and developmental issues. Implications for future research and best practices are discussed, with the goal of improving women's mental health throughout the life cycle.