Top

International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction

Published in:

01-12-2021 | Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder | Original Article

Probabilities of PTSD and Related Substance Use Among Canadian Adults

Authors: Ross D. Connolly, David Speed, Jacqueline Hesson

Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction | Issue 6/2021

Abstract

The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and probabilities of comorbidities between self-reported PTSD and smoking, alcohol binge drinking and substance use disorders (SUDs) from a national Canadian sample. Data were taken from the Statistics Canada Public Use Microdata File of the 2012 Canadian Community Health Survey–Mental Health (n = 17,311). The prevalence of (a) smoking, (b) alcohol binge drinking and (c) SUDs was estimated among those with a PTSD diagnosis versus those without a PTSD diagnosis. After controlling for potential socioeconomic and mental health covariates, self-reported PTSD acted as a significant predictor for membership in the heaviest smoking, alcohol, and substance use categories. Individuals self-reporting a diagnosis of PTSD have a significantly higher likelihood of engaging in smoking and alcohol binge drinking, and are more likely to meet criteria for SUDs than individuals not reporting a PTSD diagnosis.

American Psychiatric Association. (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Back, S., Brady, K., Sonne, S., & Verduin, M. (2006). Symptom improvement in co-occurring PTSD and alcohol dependence. The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 194, 690–696.PubMed

Benton, D., Deering, D., & Adamson, S. (2012). Treating co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders in an outpatient setting in New Zealand. New Zealand Journal of Psychology, 41, 30–37.

Berenz, E., & Coffey, S. (2012). Treatment of co-occurring posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders. Current Psychiatry Reports, 14, 469–477. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-012-0300-0.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Bernardy, N., & Friedman, C. (2015). Psychopharmacological strategies in the management of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): What have we learned? Current Psychiatry Reports, 17, 1–10.

Bonn-Miller, M., Vujanovic, A., & Zvolensky, M. (2008). Emotional dysregulation: AssociationWith coping-oriented marijuana use motives among current marijuana users. Substance Use & Misuse, 43, 1653–1665.

Bonn-Miller, M., Vujanovic, A., Boden, M., & Gross, J. (2011). Posttraumatic Stress, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, and Coping-Oriented Marijuana Use. Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, 40, 34–44. https://doi.org/10.1080/16506073.2010.525253.

Brady, K. (1997). Posttraumatic stress disorder and comorbidity: Recognizing the many faces of PTSD. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 58, 12–15.

Bremner, J., Southwick, S., Darnell, A., & Charney, D. (1996). Chronic PTSD in Vietnam combat veterans: Course of illness and substance abuse. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 369–375.PubMed

Brown, P., Stout, R., & Mueller, T. (1996). Posttraumatic stress disorder and substance abuse relapse among women: A pilot study. Psychology of Addictive Behaviours, 10, 124–128.

Bujarski, S., Norberg, M., & Copeland, J. (2012). The association between distress tolerance and cannabis use-related problems: The mediating and moderating roles of coping motives and gender. Addictive Behaviors, 37, 1181–1184.

Calhoun, P. S., Sampson, W. S., Bosworth, H. B., Feldman, M. E., Kirby, A. C., Hertzberg, M. A., Wampler, T. P., Tate-Williams, F., Moore, S. D., & Beckham, J. C. (2000). Drug use and validity of substance use self-reports in veterans seeking help for posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 923–927. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-006X.68.5.923.CrossRefPubMed

Cerimele, J., Bauer, A., Fortney, J., & Bauer, M. (2017). Patients with co-occurring bipolar disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder: A rapid review of the literature. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 78, 506–514.

Cooper, M., Russell, M., Skinner, J., & Windle, M. (1992). Development and validation of a three-dimensional measure of drinking motives. Psychological Assessment, 4, 123–132.

Copeland, A., & Brandon, T. (2002). Do desirability ratings moderate the validity of probability ratings on the smoking consequences questionnaire - adult? A reanalysis using regression. Psychological Assessment, 14, 353–359.PubMed

Dworkin, E., Wanklyn, S., Stasiewicz, P., & Coffey, S. (2018). PTSD symptom presentation among people with alcohol and drug use disorders: Comparisons by substance of abuse. Addictive Behaviors, 76, 188–194.PubMed

Fischer, B., Dawe, M., Mcguire, F., Shuper, P., Jones, W., Rudzinski, K., & Rehm, J. (2012). Characteristics and predictors of health problems from use among high frequency cannabis users in a Canadian university student population. Drugs: Education, Prevention, and Policy, 19, 49–58. https://doi.org/10.3109/09687637.2011.614970.CrossRef

Foa, E., & Rothbaum, B. (1998). Treating the trauma of rape: Cognitive behavioral therapy for PTSD. New York: Guilford Press.

Galatzer-Levy, I., Nickerson, A., Litz, B., & Marmar, C. (2013). Kessler patterns of lifetime PTSD comorbidity: A latent class analysis. Depression and Anxiety, 30, 489–496.PubMed

Gilbert, D., & Spielberger, G. (1987). Effects of smoking on heart rate, anxiety, and feelings of success during social interaction. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 10, 629–638.PubMed

Hernandez, J., Cordova, M., Ruzek, J., Reiser, R., Gwizdowski, I., Suppes, T., & Ostacher, M. (2013). Presentation and prevalence of PTSD in a bipolar disorder population: A STEP- BD examination. Journal of Affective Disorders, 150, 450–455.PubMed

Jacobsen, L., Southwick, S., & Kosten, T. (2001). Substance use disorders in patients with posttraumatic stress disorder: A review of the literature. American Journal Of Psychiatry, 158, 1184–1190. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ajp.158.8.CrossRef

Kassel, J., Stroud, L., & Paronis, C. (2003). Smoking, stress, and negative affect: Correlation, causation, and context across stages of smoking. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 270–304.PubMed

Kaysen, D., Schumm, J., Pedersen, E., Seim, R., Bedard-Gilligan, M., & Chard, K. (2014). Cognitive processing therapy for veterans with comorbid PTSD and alcohol use disorders. Addictive Behaviors, 39, 420–427.PubMed

Kessler, R. (2000). Posttraumatic stress disorder: The burden to the individual and to society. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 61, 4–12.PubMed

Kessler, R., Sonnega, A., Bromet, E., Hughes, M., & Nelson, C. (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Archives of General Psychiatry, 52, 1048–1060.PubMed

Khantzian, E. J. (1997). The self-medication hypothesis of substance use disorders: A reconsideration and recent applications. Harvard Review of Psychiatry, 4, 231–244. https://doi.org/10.3109/10673229709030550.CrossRefPubMed

Kline, A., Weiner, M., Ciccone, D., Interian, A., Hill, L., & Losonczy, M. (2014). Increased risk of alcohol dependency in a cohort of National Guard troops with PTSD: A longitudinal study. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 50, 18–25.PubMed

Metrik, J., Kahler, C., Mcgeary, J., Monti, P., & Rohsenow, D. (2011). Acute effects of marijuana smoking on negative and positive affect. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy, 25, 31–46.

Miller, M., Vogt, D., Mozley, S., Kaloupek, D., & Keane, T. (2006). PTSD and substance-related problems: The mediating roles of disconstraint and negative emotionality. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 115, 369–379.PubMed

Mills, K. (2013). Treatment of comorbid substance dependence and posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of the American Medical Association, 310, 482–483.PubMed

Mills, K., Teesson, M., Ross, J., & Peters, L. (2006). Trauma, PTSD, and substance use disorders: Findings from the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Well-Being. The American Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 652–658.PubMed

Misca, G., & Forgey, M. A. (2017). The role of PTSD in bi-directional intimate partner violence in military and veteran populations: A research review. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 1394. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01394.CrossRefPubMedPubMedCentral

Moore, B. A., & Krakow, B. (2010). Imagery rehearsal therapy: An emerging treatment for posttraumatic nightmares in veterans. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 2, 232–238. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0019895.CrossRef

Najavits, L., Weiss, R., & Shaw, S. (1999). A clinical profile of women with posttraumatic stress disorder and substance dependence. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 13, 98–104.

Ogeil, R. P., Rajaratnam, S. W., Phillips, J. G., Redman, J. R., & Broadbear, J. H. (2011). Ecstasy use and self-reported disturbances in sleep. Human Psychopharmacology: Clinical & Experimental, 26, 508–516. https://doi.org/10.1002/hup.1233.CrossRef

O'Hare, T., & Sherrer, M. (2011). Drinking motives as mediators between PTSD symptom severity and alcohol consumption in persons with severe mental illnesses. Addictive Behavior, 36, 465–469.

Ouimette, P., Moos, R., & Finney, J. (2003). PTSD treatment and 5-year remission among patients with substance use and posttraumatic stress disorders. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 410–414.PubMed

Potter, C., Vujanovic, A., Marshall-Berenz, E., Bernstein, A., & Bonn-Miller, M. (2011). Posttraumatic stress and marijuana use coping motives: The mediating role of distress tolerance. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25, 437–443.PubMed

Price, M., & van Stolk-Cooke, K. (2015). Examination of the interrelations between the factors of PTSD, major depression, and generalized anxiety disorder in a heterogeneous trauma-exposed sample using DSM 5 criteria. Journal of Affective Disorders, 186, 149–155. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2015.06.012.

Read, J., Wardell, J., & Colder, C. (2013). Reciprocal associations between PTSD symptoms and alcohol involvement in college: A three-year trait-state-error analysis. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 122, 984–997.PubMedPubMedCentral

Resick, P. A., Monson, P. A., & Chard, K. M. (2010). Cognitive processing therapy: Veteran/military version. Washington, DC: Department of Veterans Affairs.

Riggs, D., Rukstalis, M., Volpicelli, J., Kalmanson, D., & Foa, E. (2003). Demographic and social adjustment characteristics of patients with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependence: Potential pitfalls to PTSD treatment. Addictive Behaviors, 28, 1717–1730.PubMed

Saunders, E., Lambert-Harris, C., McGovern, M., Meier, A., & Xie, H. (2015). The prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms among addiction treatment patients with cocaine use disorders. Journal of Psychoactive Drugs, 47, 42–50.PubMedPubMedCentral

Schafer, J., & Brown, S. (1991). Marijuana and cocaine effect expectancies and drug use patterns. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 59, 558–565.PubMed

Sharkansky, E. J., Brief, D. J., Peirce, J. M., Meehan, J. C., & Mannix, L. M. (1999). Substance abuse patients with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD): Identifying specific triggers of substance use and their associations with PTSD symptoms. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, 13, 89–97 http://dx.doi.org.qe2a-proxy.mun.ca/10.1037//0893-164X.13.2.89.

Sheerin, C., Berenz, E. C., Knudsen, G. P., Reichborn-Kjennerud, T., Kendler, K. S., Aggen, S. H., & Amstadter, A. B. (2016). A population-based study of help seeking and self- medication among trauma-exposed individuals. Psychology of addictive behaviors : journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 30, 771–777.

Shiromani, P., Keane, T. M., & LeDoux, J. E. (Eds.). (2012). Posttraumatic stress disorder: Basic science and clinical practice. New York: Humana Press.

Sripada, R., Pfeiffer, P., Valenstein, M., & Bohnert, K. (2014). Medical illness burden is associated with greater PTSD service utilization in a nationally representative survey. General Hospital Psychiatry, 36, 589–593.PubMed

Statistics Canada. (2013). Canadian community health survey (CCHS)-mental health user guide. Ottawa: Author.

Symmes, A., Winters, K. C., Fahnhorst, T., Botzet, A. M., Lee, S., August, G. J., & Realmuto, G. M. (2015). The association between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and nicotine use among adolescents and young adults. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, 24, 37–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/1067828X.2012.756442.CrossRef

Trivedi, R., Post, E., Sun, H., Pomerantz, A., Saxon, A., Piette, J., et al. (2015). Prevalence, comorbidity, and prognosis of mental health among US veterans. American Journal of Public Health, 105, 2564–2569.PubMedPubMedCentral

Van Ameringen, M., Mancini, C., Patterson, B., & Boyle, M. (2008). Post-traumatic stress disorder in Canada. CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics, 14, 171–181.

Wild, J., Smith, K. V., Thompson, E., Béar, F., Lommen, M. J., & Ehlers, A. (2016). A prospective study of pre-trauma risk factors for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Psychological Medicine, 46, 2571–2582.PubMedPubMedCentral

World Health Organization. (1992). International classification of diseases and related health problems (10th rev.). Geneva: Author.

Wright, E., Borrill, J., Teers, R., & Cassidy, T. (2006). The mental health consequences of dealing with self-inflicted death in custody. Counselling Psychology Quarterly, 19, 165–180.

Yehuda, R., Halligan, S., & Bierer, L. (2001). Relationship of parental trauma exposure and PTSD to PTSD, depressive and anxiety disorders in offspring. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 35, 261–270.PubMed

Title: Probabilities of PTSD and Related Substance Use Among Canadian Adults
Authors: Ross D. Connolly
David Speed
Jacqueline Hesson
Publication date: 01-12-2021
Publisher: Springer US
Keywords: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Substance Abuse
Substance Abuse
Published in: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction / Issue 6/2021
Print ISSN: 1557-1874
Electronic ISSN: 1557-1882
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-020-00311-2

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Probabilities of PTSD and Related Substance Use Among Canadian Adults

Abstract

Keynote webinar | Spotlight on medication adherence

Springer Medicine

Abstract

Please log in to get access to this content

Other articles of this Issue 6/2021

Practical Challenges of Addressing Suicidal Behaviors for a Clinician in Bangladesh

Demographic Insights into the Decline in Electronic Gaming Machine Participation in South Australia

Test-Retest Measurement Invariance of the Nine-Item Internet Gaming Disorder Scale in Two Countries: A Preliminary Longitudinal Study

Learning from Those Who Do: Land-Based Healing in a Mushkegowuk Community

Fear of COVID-19 and Positivity: Mediating Role of Intolerance of Uncertainty, Depression, Anxiety, and Stress

Online Dating and Problematic Use: A Systematic Review