Intimate partner violence outcomes in women with PTSD and substance use: Brief Summary and Comments

Summary of Academic Journal

This study is aimed at analyzing interactions between substance use disorders (SUD), post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and intimate partner violence (IPV). With the goal of identifying available treatments for women with comorbid PTSD and SUD that have superior outcomes on IPV, this study is a secondary analysis of a prior National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) sponsored study. The NIDA study contained a total sample of 353 participants between the ages of 18-65. All participants met the DSM-IV criteria for full or sub-threshold PTSD within the past 30 days and drug or alcohol dependence/abuse criteria - having used alcohol or illicit substances within the past six months. Participants were assigned to two treatment groups both containing 90 minute (group) sessions twice a week for six weeks, one treatment called “Seeking Safety” and the other “Women’s Health Education (WHE).”

In addition to monitoring symptoms during the six weeks of the treatments, follow up interviews were conducted 12 months post treatment to assess the long term effectiveness of the respective treatments. The assumption of the researchers conducting the secondary analysis was that “Seeking Safety” would yield better results with regard to IPV. This was hypothesized based on the idea that when compared to “WHE,” the “Seeking Safety” treatment contained more of an emphasis on the importance and application of the use of proper coping mechanisms related to trauma, substance use, and creating a safe environment. 

The results of this study when generalized to all participants did not indicate that those who received the “Seeking Safety” treatment were better off than those who received the “Women’s Health Education” treatment. However, when comparing the individuals from both groups who had achieved sobriety by the time the study had begun, those who received the “Seeking Safety” treatment were indeed less likely to report abuse in their follow up interviews. The results of this study highlight the importance of further research on best practices when addressing overlapping diagnoses of PTSD and SUD and the challenges that accompany them. 

Personal Comments

I found this journal report to be quite detailed on the methods used, the nature of the treatments given, and exactly how the results were obtained. In the section where the researchers described details about the participants, the fact that the average age of the participants was 39.3 years, yet more than half of them (55%) were unemployed - most likely as a result of their illness stood out as something worth noting. Furthermore, approximately half of the participants were dependent on others for financial support. This punctuates further the necessity for proper diagnostic methods and treatment plans for affected individuals. Treatments that lead to the cultivation of a meaningful independent life. Lastly, 41% of participants reported having less than a high school education. This points directly to the necessity of accessible quality education for all people as a protective factor against psychological distress and adversity.

Link to original article:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3733335/