Resilience Phenotypes and Psychological Functioning among Individuals with Opioid Use Disorder

Abstract

Background

Opioid use disorder (OUD) is a heterogeneous disorder. However, there is a lack of deep phenotyping investigations focusing on important psychological constructs such as resilience that may impact OUD. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between trait resilience and the five-factor model of personality (FFM) among individuals with opioid use disorder (OUD). We also explored whether the FFM and trait resilience form specific phenotypes associated with psychological functioning.

Methods

This secondary analysis of an epigenetic study included participants of African ancestry (n = 72), an understudied population, who met DSM-5 criteria for OUD. Participants completed measures to assess personality traits, trait resilience, current and previous drug use, and psychological functioning (depression, anxiety, and stress).

Results

Linear regression revealed a significant relationship between resilience (CD-RISC-25 score) and the FFM, R² = 0.56, F(5,62) = 15.7, p<.001. Further, a two-cluster classification emerged as the optimal solution from the cluster analysis. Cluster 1 (n = 33, 45.8% of the sample) showed lower resilience (CD-RISC-25 score: M = 58.6, SD = 11.2) compared to Cluster 2 (n = 35, 48.6%; CD-RISC-25 score: M = 76.1, SD = 11.9). The “High-Resilience Cluster” (Cluster 2) was characterized by higher FFM traits of: Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness, and lower Neuroticism versus Cluster 1. Multivariate analysis of variance revealed statistically significant differences between the two resilience clusters concerning other psychological symptoms, Λ = 0.732, F(4, 50) = 7.05, p < 0.003.

Conclusions

These findings suggest associations between the FFM and trait resilience among individuals with OUD. Two distinct “resilience phenotypes” emerged, with high-resilience individuals displaying less stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. Results highlight the clinical importance of resilience as a potential target for intervention in people with OUD.

Keywords:

• Resilience
• opioid use disorder
• heroin
• five factor model of personality
• heterogeneity

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the study participants and members of the NYPSI research team who made this study possible (Sandra Comer, Claudia Tindall, Janet Murray, Nicholas Allwood, Rebecca Abbott, Jeanne Manubay, and Shanthi Mogali).

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Suky Martinez: Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing—original draft. Albert Garcia-Romeu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing—review and editing. Freymon Perez: Writing—review and editing. Jermaine D. Jones: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing—review and editing, Funding acquisition.

Declaration of interest

Within the past three years, Dr. Jones received compensation (in the form of partial salary support) from a study partially supported by Cerecor Inc. and has served as a paid consultant to Alkermes and the World Health Organization. Dr. Garcia-Romeu is a paid scientific advisor to ETHA Natural Botanicals and NeonMind Biosciences and has received research funding from the Heffter Research Institute, Unlimited Sciences, and MicroDoz Therapy Inc. Dr. Martinez and Mr. Perez have no conflicts to report.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant R21DA043199 to Dr. Jones. Dr. Martinez is supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse grant T32DA007294. Support for Dr. Garcia-Romeu was provided by Tim Ferriss, Matt Mullenweg, Craig Nerenberg, Blake Mycoskie, and the Steven and Alexandra Cohen Foundation. The funding organization had no role in the design and conduct of the study; collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data; preparation, review, or approval of the manuscript; and decision to submit the manuscript for publication.