Christine Timko1, Yael Chatav Schonbrun2,3, Bradley Anderson3, Jennifer E Johnson4, Michael Stein3,5,6. 1. From the, Center for Innovation to Implementation (CT), VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University School of Medicine, Menlo Park, California, USA. 2. Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (YCS), Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. 3. Behavioral Medicine and Addictions Research (YCS, BA, MS), Butler Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island, USA. 4. Division of Public Health (JEJ), College of Human Medicine, Michigan State University, Flint, Michigan, USA. 5. Department of Health Law, Policy, & Management (MS), Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. 6. Boston University School of Public Health (MS), Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Social norms regarding substance use predict substance use behaviors. In a sample of jailed women with alcohol use disorders (AUDs), we compared (i) jailed women's perceptions of the US women population's rates of substance use, with US women's actual rates of substance use; (ii) jailed women's perceived rates of substance use by US women, with their perceptions of use by their own friends; and (iii) US women's actual rates of substance use, with observed sample substance use rates. METHODS: Participants were 205 jailed women who met criteria for an AUD. We used the 1-sample or dependent-samples t-test to make the comparisons. RESULTS: Participants overestimated US women's rates of substance use and incarceration rates. They perceived their friends' substance use as less common than US women's. The jailed women reported higher rates of their own substance use than actual rates by US women. In addition, jailed women self-reported less cannabis use, but more alcohol and cocaine use and cigarette smoking, than they perceived their friends to have used. The more women perceived their friends as drinking, the less they had a goal to drink less or abstain from drinking postincarceration; in contrast, perceptions of US women's drinking were not related to personal goals for drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that correct misperceptions about substance use norms may have utility for jailed women with AUDs.
BACKGROUND: Social norms regarding substance use predict substance use behaviors. In a sample of jailed women with alcohol use disorders (AUDs), we compared (i) jailed women's perceptions of the US women population's rates of substance use, with US women's actual rates of substance use; (ii) jailed women's perceived rates of substance use by US women, with their perceptions of use by their own friends; and (iii) US women's actual rates of substance use, with observed sample substance use rates. METHODS: Participants were 205 jailed women who met criteria for an AUD. We used the 1-sample or dependent-samples t-test to make the comparisons. RESULTS: Participants overestimated US women's rates of substance use and incarceration rates. They perceived their friends' substance use as less common than US women's. The jailed women reported higher rates of their own substance use than actual rates by US women. In addition, jailed women self-reported less cannabis use, but more alcohol and cocaine use and cigarette smoking, than they perceived their friends to have used. The more women perceived their friends as drinking, the less they had a goal to drink less or abstain from drinking postincarceration; in contrast, perceptions of US women's drinking were not related to personal goals for drinking. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions that correct misperceptions about substance use norms may have utility for jailed women with AUDs.
Authors: Mary E Larimer; Clayton Neighbors; Joseph W LaBrie; David C Atkins; Melissa A Lewis; Christine M Lee; Jason R Kilmer; Debra L Kaysen; Eric R Pedersen; Heidi Montoya; Kimberley Hodge; Sruti Desai; Justin F Hummer; Theresa Walter Journal: J Stud Alcohol Drugs Date: 2011-09 Impact factor: 2.582
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Authors: Meghan E McDevitt-Murphy; James G Murphy; Joah L Williams; Christopher J Monahan; Katherine L Bracken-Minor; Jordan A Fields Journal: J Consult Clin Psychol Date: 2014-04-28