Social Phobia, Alcohol, and Marijuana Use in a Methadone-Maintained Population

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to examine social phobia, alcohol use, and drug use in a methadone-maintained (MM) population. We predicted that individuals with social phobia would demonstrate significantly higher rates of drug and alcohol use. The 383 participants were recruited from five MM programs and completed a structured interview that included the Psychiatric Diagnostic Screening Questionnaire (PDSQ) and a 30-day report of substance use.

Participants were 53% male, 78.3% Caucasian, with a mean MMTP duration of 153 weeks and 35% of participants met screening criteria for social phobia. Adjusting for possible confounding variables, SP + participants were estimated to be 2.80 (95% CI 1.42–5.52) times more likely to drink at hazardous levels and were also 1.85 (95%CI 1.10–3.12) times more likely to report use of cannabis than SP− participants. Methadone-maintained persons may be using marijuana and/or alcohol to self-medicate social phobia symptoms.

KEYWORDS:

• Social phobia
• alcohol use
• drug use