Core Activities and Findings

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Recent Core Findings

The Women and Addictions Core of Women’s Health Research at Yale has examined crucial gender-related questions in addiction. How do girls and women develop problems with addictive behaviors? How do these behaviors present themselves in women? And, what can be done to prevent and treat such problematic behaviors?

We have shown that:

• Women compared to men develop problems with gambling more rapidly - described as a "telescoping" phenomenon which has commonly been associated with alcohol and drug use problems.
• Among adolescents, depression is more strongly linked to gambling in girls than in boys, and early (pre-adult) gambling is associated with substance use problems in adolescence and young adulthood.
• Among adults, women are more likely to experience depression with gambling problems than men.
• There appears to be gender-related differences in the clinical features and co-occurring disorders in kleptomania. Women have a later age at onset. They are more likely to be married, to steal household items, to engage in hoarding of the stolen items, and to have co-occurring eating disorders.

These findings highlight the need for incorporating gender-specific considerations in both the prevention and treatment of addictive disorders. The implications for treatment where recently disseminated in a local educational conference, "Treating Impulse Control Disorders and Addictions: New Developments and Practical Office-Based Approaches" organized by Drs. Potenza and Mazure through Women’s Health Research at Yale in October 2007.

Data from the MedStat Company, which compiles paid insurance claims from a number of the largest insurers in the country, are being utilized to examine the prevalence and intensity of treatment utilization, by gender, for impulse control disorders from 1996-2006. These analyses will be published, but will also serve as preliminary data for a grant proposal examining gender differences in, and the population impact of, treatment of impulse control disorders.

Projects Currently Underway

Core activities include the analyses of data on various addictive behaviors and impulse control disorders and a number of both clinical and non-clinical research studies. An important feature of the research done within this core is the multi-disciplinary and translational nature of the research. The core also benefits from collaborations with other research cores and other research groups both at Yale and elsewhere.

The Addictive Disorders Core of the Women’s Health Research at Yale uses a broad variety of research methods, including epidemiological, neuroimaging, neuropsychological, genetic tools, and clinical trials to investigate gender-related issues in addiction. The Core is a leader in pathological gambling research and has published extensively on issues related to women and gambling.

To learn more about our research or to inquire about participation in our studies, please feel free to call us at 203-535-4424.