Findings reveal that demographic characteristics (age, race, income, education, and marital status) were not significantly related to the severity of substance use. Consistent with previous research, the measures of perceived stress, beliefs, and impulsivity were all positively correlated with drug use for female inmates. Implications were discussed for prison substance abuse programming and future research. Minimal research is available examining substance abuse issues among women prisoners. The purpose of this study was to explore relationships between perceived stress, impulsivity, and beliefs in the efficacy of drugs as these variables pertained to self-reported drug use severity. The study sample consisted of 100 women inmates participating in structured face-to-face interviews based on established research instruments. Tables, references