The Women's Recovery Group Study: Stage I Trial

NCT ID: NCT00230100

Last Updated: 2023-11-01

Study Results

Results available

Outcome measurements, participant flow, baseline characteristics, and adverse events have been published for this study.

View full results

Basic Information

Get a concise snapshot of the trial, including recruitment status, study phase, enrollment targets, and key timeline milestones.

Recruitment Status

COMPLETED

Clinical Phase

PHASE1

Total Enrollment

46 participants

Study Classification

INTERVENTIONAL

Study Start Date

2003-03-31

Study Completion Date

2005-10-31

Brief Summary

Review the sponsor-provided synopsis that highlights what the study is about and why it is being conducted.

The purpose of this study was to develop a gender-specific 12-session, manual-based relapse prevention group for women with substance use disorders (SUDs).

Detailed Description

Dive into the extended narrative that explains the scientific background, objectives, and procedures in greater depth.

This Phase I trial compares single-gender Women's Recovery Group (WRG) and an effective control condition, mixed-gender Group Drug Counseling (GDC). WRG is a new 12-session women-focused, manual-based relapse-prevention group therapy that uses a cognitive-behavioral approach. It is a 90-minute structured relapse prevention weekly group therapy with both women-focused content as well as an all-women group composition. The control condition, Group Drug Counseling (GDC), consists of 12 weekly 90-minute structured sessions and is conducted in a mixed-gender group composition and has no women-focused content. The GDC was chosen as the comparison group to approximate group drug counseling that is consistent with treatment as usual within the community. Both groups stress abstinence. Women are randomly assigned to one of the two conditions and the groups are conducted in a rolling group, semi-open format.

The treatment manual for a Women's Recovery Group (WRG) focused on the themes that are relevant to women with SUDs. There was an emphasis on educating patients about treatment and relapse prevention in a context that is relevant to women. The manual combined therapist information and instructions with patient worksheets, handouts and skills practices. The treatment intervention was conducted twice in a pre-pilot study led by study investigators. The investigators then conducted a pilot study in which outcomes among subjects receiving the treatment intervention were compared with outcomes of subjects who received the standard mixed-gender Group Drug Counseling (GDC), chosen to approximate treatment in the community.

The study hypothesis was that the single-gender group composition and women-focused group content would result in better treatment outcomes, including decrease number of days of substance use compared with baseline during follow-up, reduced substance use, and lengthened time to relapse, compared with the mixed-gender control.

Conditions

See the medical conditions and disease areas that this research is targeting or investigating.

Alcohol-Related Disorders Substance-Related Disorders

Study Design

Understand how the trial is structured, including allocation methods, masking strategies, primary purpose, and other design elements.

Allocation Method

RANDOMIZED

Intervention Model

PARALLEL

Primary Study Purpose

TREATMENT

Blinding Strategy

NONE

Study Groups

Review each arm or cohort in the study, along with the interventions and objectives associated with them.

Women's Recovery Group

The Women's Recovery Group (WRG) is a manual-based group therapy for women heterogeneous with respect to their substance use disorder, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, trauma history, 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. Individual session content was derived from research on gender-specific substance abuse antecedents, consequences, and treatment outcomes. The overall goals of the treatment are to (1) promote abstinence from all substances including alcohol; (2) improve understanding of specific aspects of SUDs, recovery, and relapse that are relevant to women, and (3) help participants with skills and strategies useful in preventing relapse and promoting recovery.

Group Type EXPERIMENTAL

The Women's Recovery Group

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

The Women's Recovery Group (WRG) is a manual-based group therapy for women heterogeneous with respect to their substance use disorder, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, trauma history, 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. Individual session content was derived from research on gender-specific substance abuse antecedents, consequences, and treatment outcomes. The overall goals of the treatment are to (1) promote abstinence from all substances including alcohol; (2) improve understanding of specific aspects of SUDs, recovery, and relapse that are relevant to women, and (3) help participants with skills and strategies useful in preventing relapse and promoting recovery.

mixed-gender Group Drug Counseling

Group Drug Counseling (GDC) is a standard 12-week, 90-minute mixed-gender group therapy. The overall goals of GDC are to 1) help patients to achieve abstinence from all substances of abuse; 2) educate patients regarding recovery from substance use disorders; 3) increase patients' self-awareness of the problems that their substance use disorder has caused; 4) encourage patients to give mutual support; and 5) help patients learn new ways to cope with problems in order to prevent relapse. The GDC was chosen as the comparison group to approximate group drug counseling that is consistent with treatment as usual within the community.

Group Type ACTIVE_COMPARATOR

mixed-gender Group Drug Counseling

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Group Drug Counseling (GDC) is a standard 12-week, 90-minute mixed-gender group therapy. The overall goals of GDC are to 1) help patients to achieve abstinence from all substances of abuse; 2) educate patients regarding recovery from substance use disorders; 3) increase patients' self-awareness of the problems that their substance use disorder has caused; 4) encourage patients to give mutual support; and 5) help patients learn new ways to cope with problems in order to prevent relapse. The GDC was chosen as the comparison group to approximate group drug counseling that is consistent with treatment as usual within the community.

Interventions

Learn about the drugs, procedures, or behavioral strategies being tested and how they are applied within this trial.

The Women's Recovery Group

The Women's Recovery Group (WRG) is a manual-based group therapy for women heterogeneous with respect to their substance use disorder, co-occurring psychiatric disorders, trauma history, 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. Individual session content was derived from research on gender-specific substance abuse antecedents, consequences, and treatment outcomes. The overall goals of the treatment are to (1) promote abstinence from all substances including alcohol; (2) improve understanding of specific aspects of SUDs, recovery, and relapse that are relevant to women, and (3) help participants with skills and strategies useful in preventing relapse and promoting recovery.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

mixed-gender Group Drug Counseling

Group Drug Counseling (GDC) is a standard 12-week, 90-minute mixed-gender group therapy. The overall goals of GDC are to 1) help patients to achieve abstinence from all substances of abuse; 2) educate patients regarding recovery from substance use disorders; 3) increase patients' self-awareness of the problems that their substance use disorder has caused; 4) encourage patients to give mutual support; and 5) help patients learn new ways to cope with problems in order to prevent relapse. The GDC was chosen as the comparison group to approximate group drug counseling that is consistent with treatment as usual within the community.

Intervention Type BEHAVIORAL

Other Intervention Names

Discover alternative or legacy names that may be used to describe the listed interventions across different sources.

WRG GDC

Eligibility Criteria

Check the participation requirements, including inclusion and exclusion rules, age limits, and whether healthy volunteers are accepted.

Inclusion Criteria

Participants were included in the study if they:

* were diagnosed with at least one substance dependence other than nicotine dependence based on the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV at the time of enrollment
* used substances within 60 days of baseline assessment
* were 18 years of age or older
* expressed intention to remain within the geographic area to return for follow-up assessments
* signed permission for the research team to communicate with any other mental health professional from whom they were receiving care

Patients were excluded if they:

* had certain co-occurring diagnoses (i.e., bipolar, post-traumatic stress, or psychotic disorders) at the time of enrollment
* were mandated to treatment
* were in residential treatment restricting substance use during the group treatment phase
* participated in concurrent substance abuse treatment group (not including self-help) during the 12-week group treatment phase
* showed clinical indication for medical detoxification (these patients were eligible to enter the study after detoxification)
Minimum Eligible Age

18 Years

Eligible Sex

ALL

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Sponsors

Meet the organizations funding or collaborating on the study and learn about their roles.

National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

NIH

Sponsor Role collaborator

Mclean Hospital

OTHER

Sponsor Role lead

Responsible Party

Identify the individual or organization who holds primary responsibility for the study information submitted to regulators.

Shelly F. Greenfield

Chief Academic Officer, Director, Clinical Research and Education, ADATP, Professor of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Responsibility Role PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Principal Investigators

Learn about the lead researchers overseeing the trial and their institutional affiliations.

Shelly F Greenfield, M.D., M.P.H.

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Mclean Hospital

Locations

Explore where the study is taking place and check the recruitment status at each participating site.

McLean Hospital

Belmont, Massachusetts, United States

Site Status

Countries

Review the countries where the study has at least one active or historical site.

United States

References

Explore related publications, articles, or registry entries linked to this study.

Greenfield SF, Trucco EM, McHugh RK, Lincoln M, Gallop RJ. The Women's Recovery Group Study: a Stage I trial of women-focused group therapy for substance use disorders versus mixed-gender group drug counseling. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2007 Sep 6;90(1):39-47. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2007.02.009. Epub 2007 Apr 18.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 17446014 (View on PubMed)

Greenfield SF, Potter JS, Lincoln MF, Popuch RE, Kuper L, Gallop RJ. High psychiatric symptom severity is a moderator of substance abuse treatment outcomes among women in single vs. mixed gender group treatment. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2008;34(5):594-602. doi: 10.1080/00952990802304980.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 18821452 (View on PubMed)

McHugh RK, Greenfield SF. Psychiatric Symptom Improvement in Women Following Group Substance Abuse Treatment: Results from the Women's Recovery Group Study. J Cogn Psychother. 2010 Apr 1;24(1):26-36. doi: 10.1891/0889-8391.24.1.26.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 20625473 (View on PubMed)

Cummings AM, Gallop RJ, Greenfield SF. Self-efficacy and substance use outcomes for women in single gender versus mixed-gender group treatment. J Groups Addict Recover. 2010;5(1):4-16. doi: 10.1080/15560350903543915.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 21753920 (View on PubMed)

Kuper LE, Gallop R, Greenfield SF. Changes in coping moderate substance abuse outcomes differentially across behavioral treatment modality. Am J Addict. 2010 Nov-Dec;19(6):543-9. doi: 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2010.00074.x. Epub 2010 Sep 23.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 20958851 (View on PubMed)

Greenfield SF, Cummings AM, Kuper LE, Wigderson SB, Koro-Ljungberg M. A qualitative analysis of women's experiences in single-gender versus mixed-gender substance abuse group therapy. Subst Use Misuse. 2013 Jun;48(9):750-60. doi: 10.3109/10826084.2013.787100. Epub 2013 Apr 22.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 23607675 (View on PubMed)

Greenfield SF, Kuper LE, Cummings AM, Robbins MS, Gallop RJ. Group Process in the single-gender Women's Recovery Group compared with mixed-gender Group Drug Counseling. J Groups Addict Recover. 2013;8(4):10.1080/1556035X.2013.836867. doi: 10.1080/1556035X.2013.836867.

Reference Type RESULT
PMID: 24294145 (View on PubMed)

Other Identifiers

Review additional registry numbers or institutional identifiers associated with this trial.

R01DA015434

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

NIDA-15434-1

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id

More Related Trials

Additional clinical trials that may be relevant based on similarity analysis.

Housing for Recovery Initiative
NCT05341830 NOT_YET_RECRUITING NA