A cross -domain growth analysis of drug -abusing women's drug use and relationship adjustment with partners over eighteen months
Abstract
Utilizing an experimental design, a sample of 115 drug-addicted women were assessed at pretest, posttest, three months, six months, and twelve months following treatment for drug addiction. The basic developmental trajectories of the women's drug use and perceived relationship adjustment with partners were determined using cross-domain latent growth modeling. Thirteen predictors were investigated for their potential effects on the women's trajectories of drug use and relationship adjustment: age, education, race, income, treatment (treatment versus no treatment), type of therapy (couples therapy, individual therapy, and treatment as usual), abuse index (the cumulative effect of six different types of abuse), and six different types of abuse tested separately (child sex abuse, child physical abuse, child emotional abuse, adult sex abuse, adult physical abuse, adult emotional abuse). Adult physical abuse approached significance. Only income had a significant effect on the women's growth trajectories. Controlling for income, results indicated that there was no change in the women's drug use and perceived relationship adjustment with partners over time. The pseudo-R2 statistics indicated that adding income significantly explained 28.5% of the variance in the women's urinalysis intercept. Women with higher incomes had a lower initial status on drug use than did women from lower income households. Women with lower incomes had a higher initial status on drug use than did women from higher income households. Within- and cross-domain relationships were also evaluated. Overall, results showed that there was little or no relationship between women's drug use and perceived relationship adjustment over time. Research emerging from this data suggests that future studies should further investigate treatment for women's drug addiction, and the effects of adult physical abuse, power and control in couple relationships, and income and poverty on women's drug abuse.
Degree
Ph.D.
Advisors
Keiley, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology|Womens studies
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