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Social recovery capital among women in early recovery

Francis, Meredith Wells

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2019, Doctor of Philosophy, Case Western Reserve University, Social Welfare.
Women’s personal social networks (PSNs) often contain members (alters) who simultaneously support and endanger their recovery from substance use disorders, necessitating a holistic approach in theory, analysis, and practice. Network structure and trauma may also affect women’s ability to use PSNs to support recovery. This dissertation aimed to 1) model the theoretical concepts of women’s PSNs in recovery; 2) identify typologies of social networks in women in early recovery using PSN characteristics known to influence recovery, 3) examine the relationship between trauma and typology membership, and 3) link typologies to sobriety outcomes over their first year after entering treatment. I used a 3-step latent profile analysis to 1) identify PSN typologies with 6 alter characteristics (sobriety, history of use with, sobriety support, treatment-related alters, isolates, and density), 2) relate Trauma Symptom Checklist (TSC-40) scores to typology membership, and 3) regress outcomes on typology membership in a sample of 377 low-income, racially-diverse women who were participating in residential or outpatient substance use disorder treatment at study entry. I identified 3 typologies. Women in the Insulated Sobriety Support type (14.3%) had tightly-knit networks, more sober alters, and fewer treatment-related alters. Women in the Treatment-Related Sobriety Support type (49.3%) had looser-knit networks with more sober and sobriety-supporting alters and alters they know from treatment. Women in the At-Risk type (36.3%) had more isolates, few sobriety-supporting alters, and more alters with whom they used. Women in the Treatment-Related Sobriety Support type were significantly more likely to maintain sobriety by 12 months (B=-0.81; OR=2.09, 95% CI [1.23-3.56]) than women in the At Risk type. Higher mean Trauma Symptom Checklist scores were positively related to membership in the At Risk type. This dissertation expands our knowledge of the role that network structure plays in recovery among women, indicating that network isolates may represent key structural elements that can be leveraged to support recovery. This study also allows us to examine the patterns in recovery networks and trauma that support or hinder women’s recovery from substance use disorders, which can provide a clinically-useful starting point for research on individualized, targeted, and trauma-responsive interventions for women in recovery.
Elizabeth Tracy (Committee Chair)
119 p.

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Francis, M. W. (2019). Social recovery capital among women in early recovery [Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1553271357710124

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Francis, Meredith. Social recovery capital among women in early recovery . 2019. Case Western Reserve University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1553271357710124.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Francis, Meredith. "Social recovery capital among women in early recovery ." Doctoral dissertation, Case Western Reserve University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=case1553271357710124

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)