Örebro Studies in Medicine 223 I
ÖREBRO 2020 2020FID
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fides schückher is a specialist in psychiatry and a licensed psychotherapist at the Addiction Centre of Örebro University Hospital. After completing medical school in Uppsala and an internship at Västerås Hospital, she began working as a consultant in psychiatry in Västerås. In 1992, she began working in Örebro, and in 2003 at the Kajsa Addiction Centre. She completed her training as a licensed psychotherapist in 1999, and worked part-time from 2004 to 2017 with evidence-based medicine at the Centre for Assessment of Medical Technology (Camtö) in Örebro. In 2011, she began postgraduate studies at the School of Health and Medical Sciences of Örebro University.
Socially stable women with alcohol use disorder (AUD) are seldom studied separately and are often marginalized in treatment of substance abuse. The overall aim of the dissertation was to address this knowledge gap in current research. Variables of importance were examined in relation to onset age and treatment outcome.
Several gender-based differences were observed. For example, women were older at onset of AUD, consumed less pure alcohol per week, and had a shorter duration of excessive alcohol use when seeking treatment than men. Participants with an earlier onset of excessive alcohol use reported significantly more psychiatric symptoms and had more immature personality traits than those with later onset. Furthermore, childhood trauma in this female population had a negative impact on age at onset of AUD and on outcome at the end of treatment and after a 12-month follow-up. Another important predictor of earlier age at onset was a mother with alcohol and/or substance problems. The most important predictor of abstinence 12 months after the end of treatment was if the patient’s treatment goal was abstinence at the end of treatment.
These results indicate the importance of identifying childhood trauma and addressing these traumas in the treatment of AUD in socially stable women. Focusing on motivational changes during treatment may also be of importance, especially in patients with relapses, as abstinence remains the most stable treatment option.
issn 1652-4063 isbn 978-91-7529-355-4
