Understanding Women’s Drug Use Following Corrections-Based Substance Use Disorder Treatment and Community Release: A Mixed Methods Social-Ecological Analysis

Abstract

This study provides a mixed methods analysis of factors associated with women’s self-reported abstinence from drug use after release from incarceration, using a social ecological framework. Women who graduated from corrections-based substance use treatment completed interviews twelve months post-release to the community (N = 425). Quantitative findings support employment (an institutional-level factor) as the strongest correlate of abstinence. However, qualitative analysis suggests that women primarily attribute sustained abstinence to individual- or community-level factors. Results indicate that women’s abstinence post-release depends on factors across multiple social ecological levels, but also that women’s subjective understanding of abstinence barriers/facilitators may offer insights for quantitative approaches.