Understanding gender differences in psychosocial functioning and treatment retention.

Although much research has compared males and females who seek substance abuse treatment, little attention has been given to factors that moderate or mediate relations between gender and dependent measures such as psychological functioning and retention. Consequently, this study examined whether family support, prior homelessness, embracement of the 12-step ideology, and attributions for addiction modified or accounted for these relations. Bivariate correlations showed that females reported less self-esteem and family support, as well as more self-blame and parental blame, than did their male counterparts. In contrast, males displayed more prior homelessness and less program completions than did the females. Multivariate analyses indicated that the relatively poor functioning of females was linked to lower family support and greater tendencies to blame themselves and their parents for their addictions. In addition, females were most likely to display low esteem when they engaged in high embracement of the 12-step ideology. On the other hand, the lower rate of program completion for males was linked to their higher rates of prior homelessness.