Dr tara

PART 3: RESIDENTS IN RECOVERY

Chapter 7: Stress and Coping: The Roles of Ethnicity and Gender in Substance Abuse Recovery

  • Authors: Justin T. Brown (City University of New York), Margaret I. Davis (Dickinson College), Leonard A. Jason, Joseph R. Ferrari (DePaul University)

  • Funding: Financial support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Grant # DA13231).

Summary

  • The study explores ethnic and gender differences in reported resource losses and gains among recovering substance abusers residing in Oxford Houses (OH).

  • Participants: 829 individuals completed a version of Hobfoll’s (1998) Conservation of Resources (COR) Evaluation.

  • Key Findings:

    • Significant individual differences based on gender, ethnicity, and length of stay.

    • Men reported fewer resource gains and losses compared to women.

    • African-Americans reported greater resource gains and losses than European-Americans.

    • Individuals with shorter OH residency experienced more losses in the past three months.

Key Concepts

  • Conservation of Resources (COR) Theory:

    • Conceptualizes stress as a result of inadequate resources for coping.

    • Resource loss is more detrimental than resource gain (Hobfoll, 2001).

    • When resources are used for coping, they are depleted faster than when used to acquire new resources.

    • Larger initial resource reserves reduce vulnerability to losses, allowing for greater future gains.

    • Social Support as a Resource:

      • Vital for coping; increases well-being and buffers against stress (Cohen & Wills, 1985).

      • Ethnic minorities rely more on informal support than formal supports (Prelow & Guarnaccia, 1997).

      • Women utilize support networks more compared to men (Hobfoll, 1986).

  • Influence of Substance Abuse:

    • Individuals may maladaptively use substances to cope with stress (Ma & Henderson, 2002).

    • Initial substance use for stress relief can lead to negative consequences and subsequent stress.

    • Resource loss parallels the spirals seen in substance abuse progression (Davis, 2003).

Purpose of the Study

  • To examine the impacts of ethnicity, gender, and substance abuse recovery on resources, losses, and gains for individuals living in Oxford Houses—a communal-living recovery model without professional staff.

  • Hypothesized that African-Americans, women, and individuals with less residence time would report higher resource losses and lower resource gains due to insufficient initial resources for coping.

Methodology

Participants

  • Demographics: Adult residents (average age = 38.75 years; SD = 9.25) in 170+ national OHs (N = 829; 270 women, 559 men).

  • Substance Abuse History: Participants reported histories of both alcohol and drug abuse, focusing on poly-substance abusers to mitigate discrepancies related to single substance usage.

  • Education and Financial Data: Average education = 12.7 years (SD = 2.08); previous mean monthly income = $1,210 (SD = $2,534); average sobriety from alcohol = 647 days (SD = 1,023); from drugs = 656 days (SD = 1,010); average length of stay = 11 months (SD = 15).

Procedure

  • Recruitment through flyers, newsletters, direct outreach to house presidents, and at conventions.

  • Surveys conducted with a consent form and review of study goals; confidentiality assured.

  • Participants received a $15 payment for completing the surveys.

  • Median length of stay determined to be 6 months, correlating with stabilization in recovery (Windle et al., 1996).

Measures

  • Demographic variables captured included age, gender, ethnicity, income, sobriety duration, and length of stay in OH.

  • Conservation of Resources Evaluation:

    • Participants rated resource gains and losses from the past 3 months using a 5-point Likert scale (0 = not at all, 1 = a little, 2 = moderately, 3 = considerably, 4 = greatly).

    • Each set of responses summed for total scores of gains and losses.

Results

  • No significant differences were found across gender or ethnicity regarding education, income, or substance use sobriety.

  • Age: Significant differences noted between men and women; controlled as a covariate in analyses without modifying results.

  • Conducted MANCOVA: factors included gender, ethnicity, length of stay; controlled for age.

    • Significant Findings:

      • Gender: Men vs. Women (Wilks’ λ = 0.97, F(1,805) = 11.69, p < .01).

      • Ethnicity: African-Americans vs. European-Americans (Wilks’ λ = 0.94, F(1,805) = 26.57, p < .01).

      • Length of Stay: < 6 months vs. ≥ 6 months (Wilks’ λ = 0.97, F(1,805) = 11.33, p < .01).

      • Interaction Effect between Gender and Ethnicity (Wilks’ λ = 0.99, F(1,805) = 3.54, p < .05).

  • Univariate Analysis:

    • African-Americans reported more gains (M = 2.46, SD = 0.90) than European-Americans (M = 1.95, SD = 0.91), F(1,805) = 47.57, p < .01.

    • Women reported greater resource gains (M = 2.29, SD = 0.88) than men (M = 2.07, SD = 0.96), F(1,805) = 8.77, p < .01.

    • Women experienced more overall resource losses (M = 1.03, SD = 0.83) compared to men (M = 0.87, SD = 0.79), F(1,805) = 8.02, p < .01.

    • African-American women reported the highest resource losses (M = 1.12, SD = 0.97).

    • Residents with less than 6 months stay faced significantly more resource losses (M = 1.07, SD = 0.86) than those with 6 months or more (M = 0.77, SD = 0.73), F(1,805) = 16.78, p < .01.

Discussion

  • Ethnic Differences:

    • African-Americans may have historical reasons for substance use as maladaptive coping mechanisms (Christmon, 1995).

    • They reported significant resource gains, potentially indicating that the OH environment supports coping resource acquisition.

    • Longer stays can reverse loss cycles, enhancing resource stabilization.

  • Gender Implications:

    • Women might experience more detrimental resource losses under stress than men, often due to inadequate coping strategies or social support networks (Hobfoll et al., 2003).

    • The high levels of stress experienced by women in recovery intersect with child custody issues, employment struggles, and health problems (Gehshan, 1993).

  • Women in OH benefit from gender-specific environments that support their recovery, flexibility, and empowerment.

  • African-American Women: May face compounded challenges due to societal stigma and cultural factors that affect treatment seeking.

    • They frequently experience greater feelings of guilt and anxiety regarding substance use (Caetano & Clark, 1998).

  • Length of Stay: Less time in OH correlates with more resource losses due to initial depletion during substance use. Stress levels and inclination to relapse decrease with longer treatment engagement.

Conclusions and Future Research

  • The study emphasizes the differing resource loss and gain dynamics among individuals in recovery, especially by gender and ethnicity.

  • Oxford House may provide a beneficial framework for recovery across diverse demographics, facilitating resource acquisition and loss reversal cycles.

  • Calls for further investigation into the intricacies of resource dynamics in substance abuse recovery, including personal severity of abuse, treatment duration, and broader recovery context.

Gwen is shown pulling out some pills from the tissue box in her room. And while looking down into the container, she decides to throw the pills out of her window.