Racial/ethnic match and treatment outcomes for women with PTSD and substance use disorders receiving community-based treatment.

This study examined the relationship between racial/ethnic match and treatment outcomes for 224 women who participated in a clinical trial of group treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders. Generalized estimating equations were used to examine the effect of client-therapist racial/ethnic match on outcomes. Results revealed racial/ethnic match was not significantly associated with session attendance.

Helping alliance, retention, and treatment outcomes: a secondary analysis from the NIDA Clinical Trials Network Women and Trauma Study.

We examined the association between the therapeutic alliance and treatment outcomes among 223 women with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders who participated in a multisite clinical trial of group treatments for trauma and addictions in the United States throughout 2004 and 2005. General linear models indicated that women who received Seeking Safety, a cognitive-behavioral treatment, had significantly higher alliance ratings than those in Women's Health Education, a control group. Alliance was related to significant decreases in PTSD symptoms and higher attendance in both interventions.

Depression and anger as risk factors underlying the relationship between maternal substance involvement and child abuse potential.

Objective: This study examines how emotion regulation deficits in the area of anger arousal and reactivity are associated with child abuse potential in mothers with substance use and depressive disorders in order to identify targeted areas for prevention and treatment.

Methods: A sample of 152 urban mothers was interviewed on measures of substance use, diagnosis of depression, anger arousal and reactivity, and child abuse potential.

Results: Linear hierarchical regressions revealed that anger arousal and reactivity exceeded diagnostic and demographic variables in predicting maternal child abuse potential.

Addressing the unique needs of African American women in HIV prevention.

African American women continue to be disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, yet there are few effective HIV prevention interventions that are exclusively tailored to their lives and that address their risk factors. Using an ecological framework, we offer a comprehensive overview of the risk factors that are driving the HIV/AIDS epidemic among African American women and explicate the consequences of ignoring these factors in HIV prevention strategies. We also recommend ways to improve HIV prevention programs by taking into consideration the unique life experiences of adult African American women.

Aggression and substance abuse in bipolar disorder.

Objectives: The goal of this retrospective study was to examine factors differentiating persons with bipolar disorder who did or did not have comorbid lifetime substance use disorders (SUD) at an index assessment. We also explored the chronology of onset of mood and SUD.

Methods: We studied 146 subjects with DSM-defined bipolar disorder.