![Sample our Health and Social Care journals, sign in here to start your FREE access for 14 days]({"type":"image" , "src" : "/sda/5938/TOC-Subject-Sample-2021-Health-Social-Care.jpg"})
Abstract
Background: Distress intolerance (DI) – the perceived inability to tolerate distressing states – is an important variable in substance abuse, with links to coping motives and return to use following a quit attempt. Recent research suggests that DI is a heterogeneous construct that varies based on the domain of distress (e.g., pain, anxiety). Objective: To evaluate whether elevations in DI in substance-dependent (SD) patients varied based on the domain of distress. Methods: Individuals (N = 55) with a diagnosis of illicit drug dependence and an affective disorder equated comparison (CO) group were administered three measures of DI – assessing pain, frustration, and respiratory discomfort. Results: The SD group demonstrated significantly greater frustration intolerance, but not greater pain intolerance or respiratory discomfort intolerance relative to the CO group. Conclusion: When controlling for the presence of an affective disorder, SD patients exhibited elevated frustration intolerance, suggesting that this may be a particularly difficult type of distress for this group. Scientific significance: DI is linked to important clinical outcomes and can be modified with treatment. Identification of intolerance of specific domains of distress associated with select disorders may help to better target such interventions.
Acknowledgments
This project was supported by the American Psychological Association Dissertation Research Award and the Clara Mayo Memorial Fellowship to Dr. McHugh. Dr. Otto’s effort on this manuscript was supported by NIDA grant R01 DA017904.
Notes
1. To distinguish DI from distress itself, we correlated participant ratings of immediate posttask distress with the persistence scores. The effect sizes were in a small magnitude or less (all values of r < .30), suggesting that these are distinction constructs.