Perceived causal and treatment factors related to substance abuse: gender differences

The study aimed to examine gender differences of causal and treatment factors in substance use as perceived by adults who are addicted to drugs in the southern region of Israel. Eighty-one men and a matched group of 81 women recruited from one methadone center and several welfare agencies, average age was about 31 years, about a third immigrated from the former Soviet Union, were administered self-report questionnaires, which measured the following: demographic variables, perceived causal and treatment factors. Results indicated the following: women drug users perceived familial circumstances such as domestic violence or incest to have higher impact on substance abuse than men; men reported curiosity and the influence of addicted friends to have higher impact on substance abuse than women. In addition, women perceived personality characteristics such as willpower to have greater impact on treatment retention than men; men regarded formal and informal social support to have greater impact on treatment retention than women. Results were discussed in light of planning and developing treatment programs.