Sex Differences in Predictors of Intermediate Outcomes in a Diversion Drug Court

Abstract

Prior research suggests that men and women have different needs and experiences in drug courts. Some studies find sex differences in outcomes, but others do not. Using administrative data from a Florida drug court, we examined the equality of coefficients of predictors of intermediate outcomes for men and women. Importantly, the impact of incentives on graduation was stronger for women (in the positive direction) and the direction of the effect of program length was in opposite directions for men and women. It was positive for men but negative for women. Other z-tests indicated that coefficients were not significantly different between men and women. As results indicate that this drug court operates similarly for both sexes, we conclude that this program is following Best Practices related to equity and that drug courts are a viable community-based treatment program for both men and women with substance use disorders in the legal system.