Unique Patterns of Substance Misuse Associated With PTSD, Depression, and Social Phobia

Abstract

This study investigated the relations between post-trauma psychopathology and substance abuse in a sample of trauma-exposed college students (N = 136) assigned to four groups based on primary diagnosis: post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, social phobia, or well-adjusted (participants who had low levels of distress). Groups were compared on a series of dimensions of substance use/abuse. Participants in the PTSD group evidenced greater substance use and abuse than those in the social phobia and well-adjusted groups on several dimensions and greater alcohol consumption than the depressed group. Correlation analyses suggested that most dimensions of substance abuse were related more strongly to avoidance and numbing (cluster C) symptoms than to re-experiencing and hyperarousal. The present findings suggest that trauma-related psychopathology may be associated with a more hazardous pattern of substance use than depression and social phobia.

KEYWORDS:

• PTSD
• co-morbidity
• alcohol abuse
• drug abuse
• college students

Notes

*p < .05.

^a N varied slightly for some variables, due to missing data; N = 117 for frequency of smoking, number of cigarettes per month, frequency of drug use, and frequency of alcohol consumption; N = 113 for number of drinks per occasion; and N = 112 for typical level of intoxication.

*p < .05;

**p < .01.