An exploratory analysis of women and men within a self-help, communal-living recovery setting: A new beginning in a new house

In the present exploratory study, women without children (n = 13) and women with children (n = 23) were compared to men (n = 35) on demographic and se lf-reported variables on entering a communal-living, self-help recovery pro gram called Oxford House. Men were more often hospitalized for their addict ion than either group of women, and men and women with children were older and had been previously hospitalized longer for their addiction than women without children. There were no significant differences among groups in ter ms of their codependency on others, and men felt a stronger sense of camara derie with other residents than women with or without children. Men and wom en with children also tended to feel they shared more in the decisions with in their house than did women without children. Further, with partial corre lates (controlling for the number of children), women with children indicat ed that the greater their self-reported codependency, the less accepting th ey were of their children and the more depressed they were about their pare nting abilities. Dysfunctional characteristics of the children also were re lated to negative characteristics in the children reported by their mothers . In short, men and women with and without children entering an Oxford Hous e have similar profiles, yet women with children have additional stressors associated with parental responsibilities.