TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk Profile and Treatment Needs of Women in Jail with Co-Occurring Serious Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders
AU - Nowotny, Kathryn M.
AU - Belknap, Joanne
AU - Lynch, Shannon
AU - DeHart, Dana
N1 - Funding Information:
This project was supported by Grant 2010-DB-BX-K048 awarded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance, Office of Justice Programs, United States Department of Justice. Support was also provided to K. M. Nowotny by the NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Individual Fellowship (F31 DA037645) funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Science Foundation (NSF) SBE Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (#1401061), the NIDA-funded Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute on Drug Abuse at the University of Southern California (R25 DA026401) and the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) funded University of Colorado Population Center (R24 HD066613).
PY - 2014/11/15
Y1 - 2014/11/15
N2 - Recent research has documented the unusually high rates of incarcerated women’s serious mental illness (SMI) and substance use disorders (SUD). Complicating these high rates is the high comorbidity of SMI with SUD and trauma histories. Yet, incarcerated women have significantly less access to treatment and health services while incarcerated than men. We used data from a multi-site, multi-method project funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (2011–2012) to determine the risk profile of women in jail (n = 491) with a current co-occurring SMI (i.e., major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorder) and SUD (i.e., abuse, dependence). The study spanned multiple geographic regions, and structured diagnostic interviews were used to understand better the women that comprised this vulnerable population. One-in-five of the women had a current co-occurring disorder (CCOD). The findings revealed that significantly more women with a CCOD had been exposed to violence and were exposed to drugs at a younger age. Further, about one-third of women with a CCOD had received no treatment from a health care professional in the past year, demonstrating a substantial unmet need. We conclude that investing in mental and behavioral health care in jails is critical to the health and safety of women as well as the communities to which they return.
AB - Recent research has documented the unusually high rates of incarcerated women’s serious mental illness (SMI) and substance use disorders (SUD). Complicating these high rates is the high comorbidity of SMI with SUD and trauma histories. Yet, incarcerated women have significantly less access to treatment and health services while incarcerated than men. We used data from a multi-site, multi-method project funded by the Bureau of Justice Assistance (2011–2012) to determine the risk profile of women in jail (n = 491) with a current co-occurring SMI (i.e., major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia spectrum disorder) and SUD (i.e., abuse, dependence). The study spanned multiple geographic regions, and structured diagnostic interviews were used to understand better the women that comprised this vulnerable population. One-in-five of the women had a current co-occurring disorder (CCOD). The findings revealed that significantly more women with a CCOD had been exposed to violence and were exposed to drugs at a younger age. Further, about one-third of women with a CCOD had received no treatment from a health care professional in the past year, demonstrating a substantial unmet need. We conclude that investing in mental and behavioral health care in jails is critical to the health and safety of women as well as the communities to which they return.
KW - co-occurring disorders
KW - serious mental illness
KW - substance use disorders
KW - women in jail
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U2 - 10.1080/03630242.2014.932892
DO - 10.1080/03630242.2014.932892
M3 - Article
C2 - 25204664
AN - SCOPUS:84911956033
VL - 54
SP - 781
EP - 795
JO - Women and Health
JF - Women and Health
SN - 0363-0242
IS - 8
ER -