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The impact of mental health treatment on women's alcohol use

Faculty Associate Kerry Green and colleagues find mental health treatment is linked to reduced alcohol use disorders in women

Since the early 2000's, the rate of alcohol use disorder (AUD) has increased in women by 84%. Modifiable predictors of change such as health services use, which includes mental health treatment and substance use treatment, is a possible predictor that could impact AUD symptoms. In a study published in PLOS ONE, Faculty Associate Kerry Green and her colleagues examine the extent to which "mental health and substance use treatment utilization are associated with transitions across stages of alcohol involvement among women with current and/or past alcohol use in a population-based sample." They hypothesized that receiving mental health and/or substance use treatment within the last year at wave 1 would be associated with lowered odds of progression to a more severe class and higher odds of recovery to a less severe class. 

In this study, Dr. Green and her colleagues did a secondary data analysis of prospective data from waves 1 and 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions (NESARC). In addition, they used latent class analysis to examine transitions between different groups of alcohol drinkers, propensity score adjustment to reduce confounding effects, and a nationally representative sample of adults to demonstrate the role of mental health and substance use treatment in real-world settings. 

The results of the study were partially consistent with the hypothesis. Among past and current drinkers who were women, it was found that those who reported past year substance use or mental health treatment at wave 1 were significantly more likely to go from moderate problems to no problems compared to those who received no treatment. The findings also suggested that substance use or mental health treatment was associated with diminishing alcohol involvement across classes.

Dr. Green and her colleagues noted that future research should examine the associations between the use of treatment and transitions across stages of alcohol involvement at more time points and in added detail to better identify when treatment began and ended, and when alcohol use problems changed.

 

Young AS, Reboussin BA, Riehm K, Mojtabai R, Green KM, et al. (2024) Associations between mental health & substance use treatment and alcohol use progression and recovery among US women drinkers. PLOS ONE 19(7): e0306820. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0306820

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