Understanding comorbidity between PTSD and substance use disorders: Two preliminary investigations

Author(s): Brady, K. T., Dansky, B. S., Kilpatrick, D. G.

Journal/Book: Addict Behav. 1995; 20: The Boulevard, Langford Lane, Kidlington, Oxford, England OX5 1GB. Pergamon-Elsevier Science Ltd. 643-655.

Abstract: While there is high level of comorbidity of PTSD End substance use disorders (SUDs), little research has focused on the overlapping symptom constellation characteristic of both PTSD and substance use/withdrawal. This report describes two preliminary investigations that address this area. In the first study, the pattern of PTSD symptoms in a sample of women (n = 28) seeking treatment for a SUD and comorbid with PTSD was compared with the symptom pattern of a sample of women (n = 28) with PTSD only. The PTSD + SUD group evidenced significantly more symptoms in the avoidance and arousal symptom clusters than the PTSD-only group. At the individual symptom level, the PTSD + SUD group reported significantly more sleep disturbance than the PTSD-only group. It was also determined that the PTSD + SUD group reported greater traumatic-event exposure than the PTSD-only group. In the second study, PTSD symptoms were compared in a sample of alcohol-dependent and a sample of cocaine-dependent individuals with PTSD. The alcohol-dependent group exhibited significantly more arousal symptoms than the cocaine-dependent group. Implications of the results for the assessment of individuals with comorbid PTSD and SUDs are discussed.

Note: Article ME Saladin, Med Univ S Carolina, Dept Psychiat & Behav Sci, Ctr Drug & Alcohol Programs, 171 Ashley Ave, Charleston, SC 29425 USA

Keyword(s): POSTTRAUMATIC-STRESS-DISORDER; RAPE

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