Alexithymia disrupts emotion regulation processes and is associated with greater negative affect and alcohol problems.

OBJECTIVE: Alexithymia is common among people who abuse alcohol, yet the mechanisms by which alexithymia exerts its influence remain unclear. This analysis tested a model whereby the three subscales of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale exert an indirect effect on alcohol problems through difficulties with emotion regulation and psychological distress. METHOD: Men and women (n = 141) seeking alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale, the Difficulties with Emotion Regulation Scale, the Brief Symptom Inventory, the Short Inventory of Problems, and the Alcohol Dependence Scale. RESULTS: The Difficulty Identifying Feelings subscale of the Toronto Alexithymia Scale was positively associated with alcohol problems through emotion dysregulation and psychological distress. The other two subscales, Difficulty Describing Feelings and Externally oriented Thinking, were not associated with any other variables. CONCLUSION: People with alexithymia may consume alcohol to help regulate undifferentiated states of emotional arousal. Given the prevalence of alexithymia among people who abuse alcohol, treatment supplements that enhance the identification of emotions are needed.

The Great Disrupter: Relationship of Alexithymia to Emotion Regulation Processes and Smoking among Pregnant Women.

Background: Many women continue to smoke during pregnancy, despite known risks, often in response to negative affect. Recent scholarship has begun to examine factors that decrease the success of behavioral treatments for smoking cessation in pregnancy, which are the preferred interventions. Alexithymia is one factor that may interfere with smoking cessation interventions. Alexithymia restricts access to emotional information and increases propensity toward maladaptive behaviors, including smoking. However, mechanisms underlying such effects are largely unknown. Objectives: Using data from a longitudinal treatment study, the present research examined difficulties with emotion regulation as a potential mechanism linking alexithymia and smoking. Pregnant smokers (n = 73; mean age = 24.78; SD = 4.50) completed measures related to alexithymia, smoking, emotion regulation, depression, anxiety, and anger at baseline and then again following eight sessions of Cognitive-Behavioral Smoking Cessation Treatment. Results: Nearly 40% of the sample met the criteria for alexithymia. The alexithymia group reported higher depression, anxiety, and anger. They also reported more difficulties with emotion regulation. In a path analysis, baseline alexithymia had a significant positive indirect effect on number of cigarettes smoked at the end of treatment through difficulties with emotion regulation. Conclusions/Importance: Similar to other studies, alexithymia limits the understanding of emotional information necessary for selection and implementation of adaptive coping responses. Our results extend the literature by suggesting that smoking may be an attempt to manage undifferentiated and unpleasant sensations created by alexithymia.

The Identification of Pretreatment Trajectories of Alcohol Use and Their Relationship to Treatment Outcome in Men and Women With Alcohol Use Disorder.

BACKGROUND: Few studies have focused on behavioral changes that occur prior to entering treatment for an alcohol use disorder (AUD). In 2 studies (Psychol Addict Behav, 27, 2013, 1159; J Stud Alcohol, 66, 2005, 369), pretreatment reductions in alcohol use were associated with better treatment outcomes. Identifying patterns of pretreatment change has the potential to inform clinical decision making. METHODS: This study sought to identify pretreatment change trajectories in individuals seeking outpatient treatment for AUD (N = 205) using finite mixture modeling based on changes in number of days abstinent per week (NDA). RESULTS: The analysis identified 3 pretreatment trajectory classes. Class 1 (High Abstinence-Minimal Increase; HA-MI) (n = 64; 31.2%) reported a high level of pretreatment NDA with minimal change during an 8-week pretreatment interval. Class 2 (Low Abstinence-Steady Increase; LA-SI) (n = 73; 35.6%) reported a low level of pretreatment NDA followed by a steady increase beginning 2 weeks prior to the phone screen. Class 3 (Nonabstinent-Accelerated Increase; NA-AI) (n = 68; 33.2%) reported no or very low levels of pretreatment NDA but demonstrated an increase following the phone screen. With regard to within-treatment change, Class 1 demonstrated the least and Class 3 demonstrated the most change in NDA. From baseline to 6-month follow-up, Class 3 added 2.31 abstinent days per week, Class 2 added 0.69 days, and Class 1 added 0.63 days. The increase in NDA for Class 3 was significantly different from the other 2 classes; however, Class 3 reported fewer overall days abstinent at 6-month follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: Study results have clinical and research implications including recommended changes to treatment protocols and research designs. Understanding the impact of pretreatment trajectories of alcohol use on within-treatment and posttreatment outcomes may provide important information about adapting treatment to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

Adults with Comorbid Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, Alcohol Use Disorder, and Opioid Use Disorder: The Effectiveness of Modified Prolonged Exposure.

Opioid use disorders (OUDs) are a growing problem in the United States. When OUDs co-occur with problematic drinking and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), negative drug-related mental and physical health outcomes may be exacerbated. Thus, it is important to establish whether PTSD treatments with established efficacy for dually diagnosed individuals also demonstrate efficacy in individuals who engage in problematic drinking and concurrent opioid misuse. Adults who met DSM-IV-TR criteria for PTSD and alcohol dependence were recruited from a substance use treatment facility and were randomly assigned to receive either modified prolonged exposure (mPE) therapy for PTSD or a non-trauma-focused comparison treatment. Compared to adults in a non-OUD comparison group (n = 74), adults with OUD (n = 52) were younger, reported more cravings for alcohol, were more likely to use amphetamines and sedatives, were hospitalized more frequently for drug- and alcohol-related problems, and suffered from more severe PTSD symptomatology, depressive symptoms, and anxiety, standardized mean differences = 0.36-1.81. For participants with OUD, mPE was associated with large reductions in PTSD symptomatology, sleep disturbances, and symptoms of anxiety and depression, ds = 1.08-2.56. Moreover, participants with OUD reported decreases in alcohol cravings that were significantly greater than those reported by the non-OUD comparison group, F(1, 71.42) = 6.37, p = .014. Overall, our findings support the efficacy of mPE for PTSD among individuals who engage in problematic drinking and concurrent opioid misuse, despite severe baseline symptoms.

Smoking Cessation for Pregnant Smokers: Development and Pilot Test of an Emotion Regulation Treatment Supplement to Standard Smoking Cessation for Negative Affect Smokers.

INTRODUCTION: Negative affect has been identified as a factor influencing continued smoking during pregnancy. In this study, a multi-component emotion regulation intervention was developed to address negative emotional smoking triggers and pilot-tested among low-income pregnant smokers. Treatment feasibility and acceptability, cotinine-verified rates of smoking cessation, and self-report of mean cigarettes smoked were assessed. METHODS: Pregnant smokers who self-reported smoking in response to negative affect (N = 70) were randomly assigned to receive one of two 8-session interventions: (1) emotion regulation treatment combined with standard cognitive-behavioral smoking cessation (ERT + CBT) or (2) a health and lifestyle plus standard smoking cessation active control (HLS + CBT). Outcomes for the 4-month period following the quit date are reported. RESULTS: Treatment attendance and subjective ratings provide evidence for the feasibility and acceptability of the ERT + CBT intervention. Compared with the HLS + CBT control condition, the ERT + CBT condition demonstrated higher abstinence rates at 2 months (ERT + CBT = 23% vs. HLS + CBT = 0%, OR = 13.51; 95% CI = 0.70-261.59) and 4 months (ERT = 18% vs. HLS = 5%; OR = 2.98; 95% CI = 0.39-22.72) post-quit. Mean number of cigarettes per day was significantly lower in ERT + CBT at 2 months (ERT + CBT = 2.73 (3.35) vs. HLS + CBT = 5.84 (6.24); p = .05) but not at 4 months (ERT + CBT = 2.15 (3.17) vs. HLS + CBT = 5.18 (2.88); p = .06) post-quit. CONCLUSIONS: The development and initial test of the ERT + CBT intervention supports its feasibility and acceptability in this difficult-to-treat population. Further development and testing in a Stage II randomized clinical trial are warranted. IMPLICATIONS: Negative affect has been identified as a motivator for continued smoking during pregnancy. To date, smoking cessation interventions for pregnant smokers have not specifically addressed the role of negative affect as a smoking trigger. This treatment development pilot study provides support for the feasibility and acceptability of a multi-component ERT + CBT for low-income pregnant smokers who self-report smoking in response to negative affect. Study findings support further testing in a fully-powered Stage II efficacy trial powered to assess mediators and moderators of treatment effects.

Decline in cue-provoked craving during cue exposure therapy for smoking cessation.

INTRODUCTION: Based on the principles of Pavlovian learning and extinction, cue exposure therapy (CET) involves repeated exposure to substance-associated cues to extinguish conditioned cravings and reduce the likelihood of relapse. The efficacy of CET is predicated on successful extinction, yet the process of extinction in CET trials has rarely been demonstrated. This study explored the extinction process using a cue-reactivity paradigm in smokers undergoing multiple CET sessions as part of a comprehensive smoking cessation treatment. METHODS: The sample comprised 76 moderately dependent, treatment-seeking smokers who completed at least 4 CET sessions and 6 counseling sessions. The CET and counseling sessions were scheduled twice weekly, and participants began using transdermal nicotine replacement therapy on their quit day, which occurred prior to initiation of CET. Each CET session consisted of presentation of 140 images on a computer screen, with self-reported craving as the primary measure of cue reactivity. RESULTS: Mixed-model analyses revealed a progressive decline in cue-provoked craving both within and across 6 sessions of CET. Moderator analyses showed that the decline in craving was greatest among those who displayed initial cue reactivity. CONCLUSIONS: These data are consistent with the premise that CET can produce extinction of laboratory-based cue-provoked smoking cravings and highlight important individual differences that may influence extinction. Implications for conducting cue exposure research and interventions are discussed.

Daily mindfulness homework completion is associated with reduced drinking during a mindfulness-enriched emotion regulation treatment for alcohol use disorder.

Homework is widely used in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for alcohol use disorder (AUD). Theoretically, homework helps clients generalize skills acquired during treatment to their daily lives. However, clinical trials methodology has typically employed pre- and post-treatment assessments which has made evaluating the contribution of homework to behavior change a challenge. The current study leveraged daily diary data from a clinical trial of CBT for AUD to parse within- and between-person associations of mindfulness homework practice and alcohol consumption. Adults seeking treatment for AUD (N = 97) completed 12 treatment sessions and 84 consecutive daily smartphone surveys. Each day, participants reported on the frequency of prior day's formal and informal mindfulness homework practice, the duration of prior day's formal mindfulness practice, and prior day's alcohol consumption. Multilevel models tested within- and between-person associations of mindfulness homework practice with the odds of drinking and heavy drinking, accounting for prior day's alcohol use. Results revealed that greater-than-usual frequency and duration of formal daily mindfulness homework practice, but not informal mindfulness practice, were associated with lower odds of a drinking day. Further, greater-than-usual duration of formal daily mindfulness homework practice, but not frequency of mindfulness practice (formal or informal), was associated with lower odds of a heavy drinking day. Results suggest that formal daily mindfulness homework practice may be beneficial and extend the literature by demonstrating that it coincides with reduced drinking and heavy drinking odds within-persons during AUD treatment. Apprising AUD clients of the potential value of homework may help boost its uptake.

Mechanisms of behavior change during alcohol treatment among negative affect drinkers: A time-varying effect model analysis using 84 consecutive days of ecological momentary assessment.

OBJECTIVE: To better understand the timing and unique contribution of four potential mechanisms of behavior change (MOBC) during alcohol use disorder (AUD) treatment (negative affect, positive affect, alcohol craving, and adaptive alcohol coping), we used a time-varying effect modeling analytic approach to examine the change trajectories of alcohol abstinence, heavy drinking, the hypothesized MOBCs, and the time-varying associations between the MOBCs and alcohol outcomes. METHOD: Participants (N = 181; Mage = 50.8 years, SD = 10.6; 51% women; 93.5% Caucasian) were enrolled in a 12-week randomized clinical trial of cognitive behavioral outpatient treatment program for AUD. For 84 consecutive days, participants provided self-reports of positive and negative affect, craving, alcohol use, and adaptive alcohol coping strategies employed. RESULTS: Throughout the 84-day treatment window, higher daily average craving levels were associated with both decreased likelihood of alcohol abstinence and increased odds of heavy drinking, whereas higher adaptive alcohol coping was associated with increased odds of abstinence and decreased odds of heavy drinking. Higher negative affect was associated with decreased odds of abstinence in the first 10 days of treatment and increased odds of heavy drinking before Day 4 or Day 5. Higher positive affect was associated with decreased odds of heavy drinking during the first 4 or 5 days. CONCLUSIONS: The differential time-varying associations between negative affect, positive affect, alcohol craving, adaptive alcohol coping, and alcohol use provide insights into how and when each of the MOBCs is active during AUD treatment. These findings can help optimize the efficacy of future AUD treatments. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Emotion differentiation among individuals in a randomized clinical trial for alcohol use disorder: Within- and between-person associations with affect, craving, and alcohol use in daily life.

Emotion differentiation refers to cognitively distinguishing among discrete, same-valenced emotions. Negative emotion differentiation (NED) is a transdiagnostic indicator of emotional functioning. The role of positive emotion differentiation (PED) in clinical disorders, including alcohol use disorder (AUD), is less understood. Further, despite consensus that emotions are highly variable, little is known about within-person fluctuations in NED/PED. The current study leveraged 84 consecutive daily smartphone surveys from participants (N = 181) in a clinical trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for AUD to investigate whether between-person differences in overall NED/PED, or within-person variability in daily NED/PED, were associated with affect intensity, craving, drinking, and heavy drinking in daily life. Subsequent analyses explored whether associations were moderated by baseline alexithymia. At the between-persons level, greater average PED, but not NED, was associated with lower heavy drinking odds. At the within-persons level, higher-than-usual PED was associated with lower negative affect and odds of any drinking. Individuals with baseline alexithymia had stronger negative within-person associations between daily NED and both any and heavy drinking. PED is a skill linked to less alcohol use between- and within-persons irrespective of baseline alexithymia, whereas greater daily NED appears especially important for reduced alcohol use among individuals with co-morbid AUD and alexithymia.

Depression, Readiness for Change, and Treatment Among Court-Mandated DUI Offenders.

OBJECTIVE: The current study is part of a larger study that was designed to evaluate the impact of brief interventions on subsequent alcohol and drug use of individuals convicted of driving under the influence (DUI). This element considers the interaction of depression levels with treatment on subsequent substance use and problems related to substance use. METHODS: Subjects were referred to the Research Institute on Addictions from various courts in the Western New York area for clinical evaluation and treatment referral, if further treatment was indicated. A total of 765 individuals were referred to the program, with 549 agreeing to participate. Participants were assessed at baseline using a number of different measures, with depression and readiness to change among them. A follow-up assessment took place 18-24 months following the baseline, with subsequent treatment experiences being one of the primary measures of interest for this study. A total of 443 participants were successfully interviewed at follow-up. RESULTS: The high depression group had greater readiness to change and a greater likelihood of entering treatment than the low depression group (p's < .001). ANCOVAs showed depression by treatment interactions for drug problem severity, drug use, DUI risk, alcohol expectancies, abstinence self-efficacy, and psychiatric distress (all p's < .05). Furthermore, the treated high depression group made the largest positive gains across all outcomes (all p's < .01). CONCLUSIONS: The readiness to change, treatment entry, and ANCOVA results, all support Wells-Parker and her colleagues' approach that depression may be a strong indicator of DUI offenders' readiness to change their substance use behavior.

Pretreatment changes in drinking: A test of a tailored treatment approach.

BACKGROUND: Pretreatment reductions in drinking are well documented and have been demonstrated to predict posttreatment drinking outcomes. Making use of the predictive value of pretreatment change has great appeal in settings that place a premium on efficient clinical decisions regarding appropriate type and intensity of treatment. METHODS: This study investigates whether different types and intensities of treatment are appropriate and beneficial for individuals entering treatment for an alcohol use disorder (AUD; N = 201) who make more vs. less pretreatment change in their drinking during a 2-month pretreatment period. Based on an algorithm derived from pilot research, we derived two independent pretreatment change arms that we called Substantial Change and Minimal Change. Each arm was a parallel, sequentially randomized design consisting of a treatment group and an active control. The Substantial Change arm compared six sessions of relapse prevention treatment (RPT) with 12 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy for AUD (CBT) as an active control. Both CBT and RPT occurred over a 12-week period. The Minimal Change arm compared 12 sessions of an integrated motivational intervention combined with CBT (MI/CBT) with 12 sessions of CBT as an active control. The outcome variables were changes in number of days abstinent (NDA) and number of days heavy drinking (NDH) per week. RESULTS: For the Substantial Change arm, a noninferiority analysis revealed that six sessions of RPT were noninferior to 12 sessions of CBT at each posttreatment assessment for both NDA and NDH. For the Minimal Change arm, a superiority analysis failed to detect that MI/CBT was superior to CBT at any posttreatment assessment for both NDA and NDH. CONCLUSIONS: In the substantial change arm, results suggest that offering a less intensive initial treatment, like RPT, may lower costs and conserve clinical resources. In the Minimal Change arm, results indicate the need to continue searching for a treatment or treatment enhancements to improve alcohol outcomes.

Prolonged Exposure Therapy for PTSD among Individuals in a Residential Substance Use Treatment Program: A Case Series.

Clients with co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders present a unique challenge for clinicians in substance use treatment settings. Substance dependent individuals with PTSD tend to improve less during substance use treatment and relapse more quickly following abstinence attempts compared to those without PTSD. Recent scientific efforts have focused on understanding the potential benefit of providing PTSD treatment concurrent with substance use treatment. The current case study describes 4 individuals with PTSD in a residential substance use facility who received prolonged exposure therapy for treatment of PTSD, in addition to the substance use treatment. These individuals completed 9 bi-weekly 60-minute sessions of prolonged exposure, as well as in vivo and imaginal exposure homework between sessions. None of the clients met criteria for PTSD at the end of treatment, with these gains being maintained at 3- and 6-months post-treatment. Additionally, the clients did not relapse in response to undergoing exposure therapy. Implications for delivery of PTSD treatment in substance use treatment facilities are discussed.

Do schizotypy features predict cannabis problems in partnered community adults?

Schizotypy and its associated features-negative schizotypy, disorganization, and positive schizotypy-are correlated with increased cannabis use. Yet, it is unclear whether cannabis users with schizotypy are at greater risk of developing cannabis problems. Individuals with elevated schizotypy may be particularly vulnerable to cannabis problems. It is important to understand this association given the unknown harms of chronic cannabis use. Data for these analyses were drawn from a larger investigation of cannabis use in adult romantic relationships. Participants were community adults (N = 366; M Age = 24.6, SD = 3.1) who reported regular use of cannabis. Participants completed baseline surveys measuring cannabis use frequency, problems, and schizotypy. Follow-up assessments of cannabis problems and frequency were completed 4-, 7- and 10-months post-baseline. Multiple regression was used to test the effect of schizotypy-measured using the Schizotypal Personality Questionnaire-Brief (SPQ-B, Raine & Benishay, 1995)-on cannabis use problems controlling for 30-day cannabis use. At baseline, disorganization and positive schizotypy were associated with cannabis use, primarily for women. Results revealed that with cannabis use frequency in the model, the Disorganization subscale of the SPQ-B predicted cannabis problems at baseline and all 3 follow-up assessments. Results are consistent with research suggesting that those exhibiting odd behaviors report more problematic cannabis use. Future research may further this line of inquiry with a focus on longitudinal, reciprocal relationships among schizotypy features, cannabis use, and cannabis problems.

The Shape of Change: Determining When Mechanisms of Behavior Change Are Active in Cognitive Behavioral Treatment for Alcohol Use Disorder Using Time-Varying Effect Modeling (TVEM).

OBJECTIVE: Research has identified several potential mechanisms of behavior change (MOBCs) in cognitive-behavioral therapy for alcohol use disorder, including alcohol abstinence self-efficacy (AASE), negative affect (NA), and positive affect (PA). However, little is known about when MOBCs affect clinical outcomes during alcohol use disorder treatment. Such information could advance MOBC research by identifying relationships between specific treatment content and variations in MOBCs. This study examined three MOBCs simultaneously to determine their timing and relative influence on percent days abstinent (PDA) and drinks per day (DPD). METHOD: Data were derived from a parent study assessing pretreatment change in drinking. Participants (n = 205) received 12 sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy for alcohol use disorder. AASE, NA, and PA were measured at each treatment session, and time-varying effect models (TVEM) were used to examine their association with PDA and DPD. RESULTS: All three MOBCs were associated with PDA and DPD but varied with regard to time course, strength, and direction. For PDA, AASE was positively associated throughout treatment, NA was negatively associated from Sessions 1 to 10, and PA was positively associated from Sessions 1 to 3 and 11 to 12. For DPD, AASE was positively associated from Session 5 to the end of treatment, NA was positively associated throughout treatment although the strength of the association varied and was strongest at the beginning of treatment, and PA was positively associated from Sessions 5 to 12. CONCLUSIONS: Results show that MOBCs exert their effects at different times during treatment. In addition to replicating these results, future research should attempt to manipulate MOBCs directly and examine their influence on alcohol outcomes.

Emotion regulation difficulties and social control correlates of smoking among pregnant women trying to quit.

Approximately 15% of US women currently smoke during pregnancy. An important step toward providing effective smoking cessation interventions during pregnancy is to identify individuals who are more likely to encounter difficulty quitting. Pregnant smokers frequently report smoking in response to intrapersonal factors (e.g., negative emotions), but successful cessation attempts can also be influenced by interpersonal factors (i.e., influence from close others). This study examined the association between emotion regulation difficulties, positive and negative social control (e.g., encouragement, criticism), and smoking cessation-related variables (i.e., smoking quantity, withdrawal symptoms) among pregnant smokers. Data were drawn from the pretreatment wave of a smoking cessation trial enrolling low-income pregnant women who self-reported smoking in response to negative affect (N = 73). Greater emotion regulation difficulties were related to greater smoking urges (b = 0.295, p = .042) and withdrawal symptoms (b = 0.085, p = .003). Additionally, more negative social control from close others was related to fewer smoking days (b = -0.614, p = .042) and higher smoking abstinence self-efficacy (b = 0.017, p = .002). More positive social control from close others interacted with negative affect smoking (b = -0.052, p = .043); the association between negative affect smoking and nicotine dependence (b = 0.812, p < .001) only occurred at low levels of positive social control. Findings suggest that emotion regulation difficulties may contribute to smoking during pregnancy by exacerbating women's negative experiences related to smoking cessation attempts. Negative social control was related to lower smoking frequency and greater confidence in quitting smoking, suggesting that it may assist pregnant smokers' cessation efforts. Positive social control buffered women from the effects of negative affect smoking on nicotine dependence. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT01163864.

Factors affecting agreement between severely mentally ill alcohol abusers' and collaterals' reports of alcohol and other substance abuse.

This study examined subject-collateral reports of alcohol use among a sample of 167 dually diagnosed individuals seeking outpatient treatment at a community mental health clinic. All subjects met Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; American Psychiatric Association, 1994) criteria for a schizophrenia-spectrum or bipolar disorder and for alcohol abuse or dependence. Subjects were recruited within 2 weeks of treatment entry and completed measures of cognitive functioning, alcohol dependence severity, psychiatric symptoms, and quantity and frequency of substance use over the previous 60 days using the Timeline Follow-Back interview (L. C. Sobell & M. B. Sobell, 1996). They also provided a urine sample, which was screened for recent drug use. Collateral interviews were conducted by phone and included an assessment of the subject's alcohol and drug use over the same 60-day period. Collaterals also reported their confidence in the accuracy of their reports. Overall, the results indicated generally poor subject-collateral agreement. However, subject-collateral agreement appeared better for those individuals (n = 97) with negative urine drug screens. The most consistent predictor of subject-collateral discrepancy scores was subjects' recent drug use. Recommendations for enhancing the validity of self-reports of substance use in a severely mentally ill population are discussed.

PTSD symptom presentation among people with alcohol and drug use disorders: Comparisons by substance of abuse.

Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders (SUDs) commonly co-occur, and there is some evidence to suggest that PTSD symptom clusters are differentially related to various substances of abuse. However, few studies to date have compared PTSD symptom patterns across people with different types of SUDs, and fewer still have accounted for the presence of comorbidity across types of SUDs in understanding symptom patterns. Thus, in the current study, we use a treatment-seeking sample of people with elevated symptoms of PTSD and problem alcohol use to explore differential associations between past-year SUDs with active use and PTSD symptoms, while accounting for the presence of multiple SUDs. When comparing alcohol and drug use disorders, avoidance symptoms were elevated in those with alcohol use disorder, and hyperarousal symptoms were elevated in those who had a drug use disorder. In the subsample with alcohol use disorder, hyperarousal symptoms were elevated in people with co-occurring cocaine use disorders and numbing symptoms were elevated in people with co-occurring sedative/hypnotic/anxiolytic use disorder. These findings provide evidence for different symptom cluster patterns between PTSD and various types of SUDs and highlight the importance of examining the functional relationship between specific substances of abuse when understanding the interplay between PTSD and SUDs.

Difficulties in emotion regulation in treatment-seeking alcoholics with and without co-occurring mood and anxiety disorders.

Emotion regulation difficulties (ERD) are known to underlie mental health conditions including anxiety and depressive disorders and alcohol use disorder (AUD). Although AUD, mood, and anxiety disorders commonly co-occur, no study has examined the association between these disorders and ERD among AUD outpatients. In the current study, emotion regulation (ER) scores of AUD individuals with no co-occurring mental health condition were compared to the ER scores of individuals who met diagnostic criteria for co-occurring mood and/or anxiety disorders. Treatment-seeking AUD individuals (N=77) completed measures of emotion regulation, alcohol use and psychological functioning prior to beginning a 12-week outpatient cognitive-behaviorally oriented alcohol treatment program. Individuals were classified as having no co-occurring mood or anxiety disorder (AUD-0, n=24), one co-occurring disorder (AUD-1, n=34), or two or more co-occurring disorders (AUD-2, n=19). Between-group differences in emotion regulation, quantity/frequency of alcohol consumption, positive and negative affect, affective drinking situations, negative mood regulation expectancies, distress tolerance, alexithymia, trait mindfulness, and psychological symptom severity were examined. Compared with the AUD-0 group, the AUD-2 group reported significantly greater ERD, psychiatric distress and alcohol consumption, more frequent drinking in response to negative affect situations, greater interference from negative emotions, and less use of mindfulness skills. The AUD-1 group differed from AUD-0 group only on the DERS lack of emotional awareness (Aware) subscale. Emotion regulation scores in the AUD-0 group were comparable to those previously reported for general community samples, whereas levels of ERD in the AUD-1 and AUD-2 were similar to those found in other clinical samples. Implications for the inclusion of ER interventions among AUD patients who might most benefit from such an intervention are discussed.

Effects of extinction context and retrieval cues on renewal of alcohol-cue reactivity among alcohol-dependent outpatients.

Pavlovian conditioning models have led to cue-exposure treatments for drug abuse. However, conditioned responding to drug stimuli can return (be renewed) following treatment. Animal research and a previous study of social drinkers indicated that extinction is highly context dependent but that renewal could be reduced by the inclusion of a cue from the extinction context. This study extends this research to a clinical sample. Alcohol-dependent outpatients (N = 143) completed an extinction trial to reduce craving and salivation responses to alcohol cues. They were then randomized to renewal tests in either the same context as extinction, a different context, the different context containing an extinction cue, or the different context with cue plus a manipulation to increase the salience of the cue. Contrary to predictions, the different context did not produce the expected renewal effect. Although the generalization of extinction effects beyond the cue-exposure context is a positive clinical finding, it is inconsistent with basic research findings on the context dependence of extinction. Possible explanations for this inconsistency are discussed.