Background and objectives: Gender-specific factors associated with stimulant abstinence severity were examined in a stimulant abusing or dependent residential treatment sample (N = 302).
Method: Bivariate statistics tested gender differences in stimulant abstinence symptoms, measured by participant-reported experiences of early withdrawal. Multivariate linear regression examined gender and other predictors of stimulant abstinence symptom severity.
Results: Women compared to men reported greater stimulant abstinence symptom severity. Anxiety disorders and individual anxiety-related abstinence symptoms accounted for this difference. African American race/ethnicity was predictive of lower stimulant abstinence severity.
Discussion and conclusions: Women were more sensitive to anxiety-related stimulant withdrawal symptoms.
Scientific significance: Clinics that address anxiety-related abstinence symptoms, which more commonly occur in women, may improve treatment outcome.
Keywords: anxiety; early withdrawal symptoms; gender; stimulant abstinence severity.
© American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry.