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Gender Differences in Substance Use Disorders: From Science to Practice
Faculty



Shelly F. Greenfield, MD, MPH is Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Kristine M. Trustey Endowed Chair of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital where she also serves as the Chief Academic Officer. She is the Chief of the Division of Women's Mental Health and the Director of Clinical and Health Services Research and Education in the Alcohol, Drug and Addiction Treatment Program at McLean Hospital. Dr. Greenfield is an addiction psychiatrist, clinician and researcher. Dr. Greenfield has served as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator on federally funded research focusing on treatment for substance use disorders, gender differences in substance disorders, and health services for substance disorders. She received a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)-funded career award in substance use disorder patient oriented research (2005-2016). Funded by grants from NIH/NIDA, she developed and tested a new manual-based group therapy for women with substance use disorders, the Women’s Recovery Group (WRG) resulting in a dissemination manual Treating Women with Substance Use Disorders: The Women’s Recovery Group Manual.  She is Past President of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry; current member and past chair of the American Psychiatric Association's Council on Addiction Psychiatry; member of the Advisory Committee on Services for Women for the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (2011-2017); and a member of the NIH/NIDA National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse (2021-2024). She has been elected to the American College of Psychiatrists and the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and is a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association. She received the R. Brinkley Smithers Distinguished Scientist Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine, Harvard Medical School’s A. Clifford Barger Award for Excellence in Mentoring, the Stuart A. Hauser Award for Mentoring from the Department of Psychiatry, and the 2022 Dean’s Award for Community Service for the Mass General Brigham/McLean Hospital Outreach Program with Indian Health Service.

 

Course Information

Summary:

This presentation will review trends in the epidemiology of gender differences in the prevalence of substance use and substance use disorders in the U.S. highlighting the narrowing gender gap and rising rates of substance use and substance use disorder in women and girls. There will then be presentation of the evidence for the telescoping course of alcohol use disorders in females and a brief review of the physiology contributing to this illness trajectory. Data regarding opioid use disorders in women and girls will also be presented.  There will be a brief overview of the risks for substance use disorders in women and the role of gender-specific therapies in treating women with substance use disorders. The presentation will then present the indications and evidence for the Women’s Recovery Group (WRG), an evidence-based manualized gender-specific group therapy for women with substance use disorders that is now disseminated into clinical practice. It will then present new research examining digital adaptations of the WRG and potential for future adaptations to meet the needs of diverse populations.

 

 

Suggested Reading:

  1. Valeri L, Sugarman DE, Reilly ME, McHugh RK, Fitzmaurice G, Greenfield, SF. Group therapy for women with substance use disorders: In-session affiliation predicts women’s substance use treatment outcomes. J Subst Abuse Treat. 2018 Nov;94:60-68. doi: 10.1016/j.jsat.2018.08.008. Epub 2018 Aug 23.
  2. McHugh RK, Votaw VR, Sugarman DE, Greenfield SF. Sex and gender differences in substance use disorders. Clin Psychol Rev. 2017 Nov 10. PMID: 29174306.
  3. Greenfield SF. Treating Women with Substance Use Disorders: The Women’s Recovery Group Manual. New York: Guilford Press, May, 2016.
  4. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Guidance Document for Supporting Women in Co-ed Settings. HHS Publication No. (SMA) 16-4979. Rockville, MD: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 2016 http://store.samhsa.gov/shin/content//SMA16-4979/SMA16-4979.pdf
  5. Volkow ND, Compton WM, Wargo EM. The risks of marijuana use during pregnancy. JAMA 2017;317:129-130.
  6. Sugarman DE,  Meyer LE, Reilly ME, Greenfield SF. Feasibility and Acceptability of a Web-Based, Gender-Specific Intervention for Women with Substance Use Disorders. Journal of Women’s Health. 4 Oct 2019https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2018.7519.
  7. Rodriguez LM, Litt DM, Stewart SH. Drinking to cope with the pandemic: The unique associations of COVID-19-related perceived threat and psychological distress to drinking behaviors in American men and women Addict Behav. 2020 Nov; 110: 106532. Published online 2020 Jun 27. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106532; PMCID: PMC7320671 PMID: 32652385
  8. McHugh RK, Nguyen MD, Chartoff EH, Sugarman DE, Greenfield SF. Gender differences in the prevalence of heroin and opioid analgesic misuse in the United States, 2015-2019. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2021 Oct 1;227:108978. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108978. Epub 2021 Aug 27. PMID: 34488078; PMCID: PMC8516063.
  9. Levine EA, Sugarman DE, Rockas M, McHugh RK, Jordan C, Greenfield SF.  Alcohol Treatment Access and Engagement among Women in the United States: A targeted review of the literature 2012-2022. Current Addiction Reports. Published online 12 September 2023. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40429-023-00515-1.

 

 

 

 

Educational Objectives:

At the end of this lecture, you will be able to:

  1. Identify important trends in gender differences in the prevalence of substance use and substance use disorders in the U.S.
  1. Describe the telescoping course of alcohol disorders in females and some of the physiology contributing to this accelerated illness trajectory.
  2. Describe the role of gender-specific treatment for women with substance use disorders and the development of the Women’s Recovery Group as an example of an evidence-based gender-specific treatment.

 

Disclosures:


 

  • Dr. Greenfield is the author of
    Treating Women with Substance Use
    Disorders: The Women’s Recovery
    Group Manual
    (Guilford Press, 2016).
  • Support for some of this work from Grants
    R01 DA 015434 and K24 DA019855 and
    UG1DA01583 from the National Institute
    on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

 

 

 

Summary
Availability: On-Demand
Expires on Feb 11, 2025
Cost: FREE
Credit Offered:
1.5 CME Credits
1.5 Other Professionals Credits
Recommended
 
American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry
The content on this site is intended solely to inform and educate medical professionals. This site shall not be used for medical advice and is not a substitute for the advice or treatment of a qualified medical professional.


 
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