Gender Differences in a Controlled Pilot Study of Psychosocial Treatments in Substance Dependent Patients with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Abstract

Co-existing substance dependence and post-traumatic stress disorder is a common comorbidity, lacking a standard treatment. This paper reports gender-related findings from an N = 19 controlled clinical trial using methadone maintained and primary-cocaine abusing subjects. Treatments contrasted were Substance Dependency-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Therapy (SDPT), an integrated, two-phase cognitive-behavioral therapy which uses existing treatment techniques including coping skills treatment for addictions, stress inoculation therapy and in vivo exposure; and Twelve-Step Facilitation Therapy. Female subjects at baseline differed from males in having higher Addiction Severity Index (ASI), psychiatric composite severity scores. No differences were seen between genders at end of treatment or follow-up. Improvement was observed across the sample in current PTSD severity, number of PTSD symptoms, ASI psychiatric, drug composite severity scores and number of days using substances in the past 30 days. The absence of gender-based differences in baseline differences and treatment outcomes suggests that recruitment, assessment and treatment processes were applied equally and were equally effective to both genders.