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History of Sexual Assault and the Treatment of Substance Abuse Disorders

NCJ Number
156002
Journal
Journal of Psychoactive Drugs Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Dated: (October-December 1994) Pages: 361-367
Author(s)
E M Harvey; R A Rawson; J L Obert
Date Published
1994
Length
7 pages
Annotation
This study compared sexually assaulted and nonassaulted patients from a sample of patients who received inpatient treatment for substance abuse.
Abstract
Of the 82 subjects who participated in the initial portion of the study, 66 (80 percent) completed the follow-up interview 6 months after discharge. The study focused on the prevalence of sexual assault history in a sample of patients who received substance-abuse treatment, background and baseline differences in psychiatric symptoms and alcohol and other drug use, and treatment effectiveness for one model of inpatient treatment evaluated at 6 months after treatment. The prevalence of assault in the sample was 15 percent. Baseline measures show that patients in the assaulted group were more likely to have a history of suicide planning and demonstrated greater psychiatric- symptom severity as measured by the Brief Symptom Inventory. Outcome measures show that treatment was effective for both groups in psychiatric-symptom reduction and in reduction of alcohol and other drug use. Results are discussed in terms of specific treatment needs for substance-abuse patients with sexual assault histories. 2 tables, 1 figure, and 18 references