title: Sex differences in social support and self-efficacy within a recovery community.
abstract: This study examined similarities and differences in social support and self-efficacy for abstinence between women and men recovering from substance addiction. The sample consisted of 87 residents of Oxford House (OH) self-run, community-based recovery homes. Analyses revealed similarities between women and men in terms of the composition and utilization of support networks and abstinence self-efficacy. Also, for both sexes, length of residency in OH was significantly related to decreased social support for alcohol and drug use and increased self-efficacy for abstinence. However, multiple-group SEM analyses demonstrated that social support for alcohol/drug use fully mediated the link between length of residency and abstinence self-efficacy for women, but not for men. Findings suggest that the process of gaining self-efficacy to remain abstinent is distinct for women and men, and that social support plays a different role in women's recovery than it does in men's.
authors.affiliation: Psychology Department, Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA 17013, USA. davismar@dickinson.edu
authors.forename: Margaret I
authors.initials: MI
authors.lastname: Davis
authors.forename: Leonard A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Jason
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D016352:Group Homes; D006208:Halfway Houses; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012657:Self-Help Groups; D012737:Sex Factors; D012944:Social Support; D016320:Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D013695:Temperance; D014481:United States