UMMS Affiliation
Department of Psychiatry
Publication Date
2020-11-19
Document Type
Article
Disciplines
Gender and Sexuality | Psychiatry and Psychology | Psychology | Rehabilitation and Therapy | Substance Abuse and Addiction
Abstract
The current article provides a brief summary of biopsychosocial gender differences in alcohol use disorder (AUD), then reviews existing literature on gender differences in treatment access, retention, outcomes, and longer-term recovery. Among psychotherapies for AUD, there is support for the efficacy of providing female-specific treatment, and for female-only treatment settings but only when female-specific treatment is included. However, despite mandates from the National Institutes of Health to do so, there is little work thus far that directly compares genders on outcomes of specific psychotherapies or pharmacotherapies for AUD. Although existing research has mixed findings on sex and gender differences in overall outcomes, there are more consistent findings suggesting different mechanisms of behavior change among men and women in AUD treatment and long-term recovery. Thus, more work is needed that attends to gender and sex differences, including planning studies that are structured to examine not only gender-differentiated outcomes in treatment response, but equally important, differences in treatment access and attendance as well as differences in mechanisms of change in drinking behavior.
Keywords
alcohol, gender, mechanisms, recovery, sex, substance use disorder, treatment
Rights and Permissions
Publisher Note: Unless otherwise noted in the text, all material appearing in this journal is in the public domain and may be reproduced without permission. Citation of the source is appreciated.
DOI of Published Version
10.35946/arcr.v40.3.03
Source
Holzhauer CG, Cucciare M, Epstein EE. Sex and Gender Effects in Recovery From Alcohol Use Disorder. Alcohol Res. 2020 Nov 19;40(3):03. doi: 10.35946/arcr.v40.3.03. PMID: 33224697; PMCID: PMC7668196. Link to article on publisher's site
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Alcohol research : current reviews
Related Resources
PubMed ID
33224697
Repository Citation
Holzhauer CG, Cucciare M, Epstein EE. (2020). Sex and Gender Effects in Recovery From Alcohol Use Disorder. Open Access Publications by UMMS Authors. https://doi.org/10.35946/arcr.v40.3.03. Retrieved from https://escholarship.umassmed.edu/oapubs/4447
Included in
Gender and Sexuality Commons, Psychiatry and Psychology Commons, Psychology Commons, Rehabilitation and Therapy Commons, Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons