Women with PTSD and Substance Use Disorders in a Research Treatment Study: A Comparison of those with and without the Dissociative Subtype of PTSD

ABSTRACT

Significant differences in clinical features have been reported in women with substance use disorders (SUDs) between those with the dissociative subtype of posttraumatic stress disorder (D-PTSD) compared to those without, namely more severe trauma histories, PTSD symptoms, and general psychopathology. This presentation reports on a group of 88 women with PTSD and SUD taking part in a research treatment study. All women were assessed using the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale for DSM-5 (CAPS-5) and were categorized into those with (n = 23, 26%) and without (n = 65, 74%) D-PTSD. Assessments for SUDs were via the Multi-International Neuropsychiatric Inventory, Seventh Version (MINI-7). Compared to those without D-PTSD, those with D-PTSD had significantly higher CAPS-5 scores (50.5 ± 9.9 v. 39.6 ± 8.8), greater number of PTSD symptoms (16.4 ± 2.6 v. 14.2 ± 2.4), more alcohol use disorder (AUD) (65.2% v. 30.8%), and more non-cocaine stimulant use disorder (34.8% v. 12.3%). No significant differences were found for other SUDs. These women with SUDs and D-PTSD have higher degrees of PTSD severity as well as unique clinical presentations. Future research is needed to explore the significance of these findings for clinical assessment and treatment.

KEYWORDS:

• PTSD
• dissociation
• dissociative subtype of PTSD
• substance use disorders
• women
• mindfulness
• emotion dysregulation

Acknowledgments

1) Presented as a paper presentation at the International Society for the Study of Trauma and Dissociation ISSTD 39th Annual virtual Conference, April 11, 2021.

2) Funding for this study was provided by NIDA Grant R01DA040968. ClinicalTrials.gov # NCT02755103

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data Availability Statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the first author, TKK. The data are not publicly available due to their containing information that could compromise the privacy of research participants.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [R01DA040968].