Gender as a Moderator in Predicting Re-Arrest Among Treated Drug-Involved Offenders

•Female inmates had a lower rate of and a longer time to re-arrest than male inmates.•Males with higher decision-making confidence were more likely to be re-arrested.•Males with more self-esteem and peer support were more likely to get re-arrested.•More criminal involvement predicted a higher rate of re-arrest for female inmates.•Females with lower self-esteem had a lower rate of re-arrest than their counterparts.

The primary aim of the current study is to explore gender differences on the relationships of pre-treatment risk factors and psychosocial functioning with time to re-arrest following termination from prison. The sample consisted of 384 males and 313 females who were admitted to four prison-based substance abuse treatment programs. Results showed that female inmates experienced a longer time to re-arrest than male inmates. Higher self-reported ratings of decision making confidence and peer support were associated with a lower likelihood of re-arrest for males. Males with higher self-esteem ratings were more likely to be re-arrested than males who reported lower self-esteem. Females with more self-reported criminal involvement had a higher rate of re-arrest than did those with less criminal involvement. In contrast to males, females with relatively high self-reported self-esteem had a lower rate of re-arrest than their counterparts who reported low self-esteem. Clinical implications include the importance of enhancing decision-making confidence and peer support for males and self-esteem for females.