Personal Network Structure and Substance use in Women by 12 Months Post Treatment Intake

INTRODUCTION:

Women with substance use disorders enter treatment with limited personal network resources and reduced recovery support. This study examined the impact of personal networks on substance use by 12 months post treatment intake.

METHODS:

Data were collected from 284 women who received substance abuse treatment. At 6month follow up, composition, support availability and structure of personal networks were examined. Substance use was measured by women's report of any use of alcohol or drugs. Hierarchical multivariate logistic regression was conducted to examine the contribution of personal network characteristics on substance use by 12 months post treatment intake.

RESULTS:

Higher numbers of substance using alters (network members) and more densely connected networks at 6 month follow-up were associated with an increased likelihood of substance use by 12 months post treatment intake. A greater number of isolates in women's networks was associated with decreased odds of substance use. Women who did not use substances by 12 months post treatment intake had more non-users among their isolates at 6 months compared to those who used substances. No association was found between support availability and likelihood of substance use.

CONCLUSIONS:

Both network composition and structure could be relevant foci for network interventions e.g. helping women change network composition by reducing substance users as well as increasing network connections. Isolates who are not substance users may be a particular strength to help women cultivate within their network to promote sustained sobriety post treatment.

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By:   Tracy EM1, Min MO2, Park H2, Jun M3, Brown S4, Francis MW2.

• 1Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University (http://msass.case.edu/), 11235 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106-7164. Electronic address: ext@case.edu.
• 2Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, 11235 Bellflower Road, Cleveland, Ohio, 44106-7164.
• 3Gyeonggido Family and Women's Research Institute, Gyeonggi-do, Suwon, Republic of Korea.
• 4Wayne State University, School of Social Work, Detroit, Michigan.
• J Subst Abuse Treat. 2015 Nov 25. pii: S0740-5472(15)00285-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2015.11.002. 
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