Women's Recovery Group (WRG) Study - A Randomized Controlled Stage II Trial

This Stage II trial builds on the Stage I trial that compared the single-gender WRG to mixed-gender GDC and demonstrated preliminary support for the WRG in treating women with substance use disorders (SUDs). It was hypothesized that women in the WRG would decrease their substance use more so than women in the GDC. The GDC was chosen as the comparison group to approximate group drug counseling that is consistent with treatment as usual within the community. The WRG is a manual-based group therapy for women heterogeneous with respect to their substance dependence, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, trauma history, and age and stage of life. The WRG is a 12-session structured relapse prevention group therapy that utilizes a cognitive-behavioral approach and includes gender-specific content and single-gender group composition. There are 14 specific session topics that can be flexibly implemented in any order for a 12-week sequence of groups. In the Stage I trial, women were randomized to WRG (n=16) or mixed-gender GDC (n =7). No significant differences in outcomes emerged between WRG and GDC during the 12 week group sequence. However, in the 6 months post-treatment, WRG participants showed a pattern of continued reductions in substance use while GDC participants did not. While the design of the Stage I trial was essential for treatment development and testing, the Stage I trial had a small sample size and used a semi-closed enrollment format. However, most treatment is delivered in an open enrollment format (i.e., rolling admission) in which patients enter at any time in the group sequence and exit the group after 12 weeks are completed. Because WRG is intended to be a manual-based treatment ready for dissemination into clinical practice if demonstrated to be effective, the Stage II trial was designed to be implemented in an open group format and to enroll a larger, more diverse sample at two clinical sites. The study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of the WRG relative to the GDC in (1) reducing days of use of any substance from baseline in a sample of women with heterogeneity with regard to their substance dependence, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, and other demographic characteristics, and (2) to demonstrate the feasibility of implementing the WRG in an open-enrollment group format.