The role of anxiety sensitivity and difficulties in emotion regulation in posttraumatic stress disorder among crack/cocaine dependent patients in residential substance abuse treatment

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Abstract

Current research suggests the importance of anxiety sensitivity (AS) in the risk for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and a growing body of research has demonstrated that difficulties in emotion regulation may also play a role. This study examined the unique relationships between AS dimensions, difficulties in emotion regulation, and a probable PTSD diagnosis among a sample of inner-city crack/cocaine dependent patients in residential substance abuse treatment. Probable PTSD participants exhibited higher levels of the AS dimension of social concerns and emotion regulation difficulties. Emotion regulation difficulties reliably distinguished probable PTSD participants from non-PTSD participants above and beyond both anxiety symptom severity and the AS dimension of social concerns. Further, social concerns did not account for unique variance when difficulties in emotion regulation was entered into the model. Results provide support for the central role of difficulties in emotion regulation relative to AS dimensions in the prediction of PTSD within a crack/cocaine dependent population.

Section snippets

Participants

Participants were 58 crack/cocaine dependent patients consecutively admitted to a residential substance abuse treatment facility in Northeast Washington, D.C. Participants were predominantly male (n = 41, 70.7%), and ranged in age from 28 to 65 (Mage = 45.43, S.D. = 7.04). In terms of racial/ethnic background, the majority of participants self-identified as Black/African-American (n = 52, 89.7%). The remaining six participants self-identified as White (n = 5, 8.6%) or Other (n = 1, 1.7%). Most participants

Preliminary analyses

Analyses were first conducted to identify potential covariates for subsequent analyses (i.e., variables demonstrating a significant relationship with the variable of probable PTSD). No significant differences were found between probable PTSD and non-PTSD participants in age (t[56] = −1.26, P = .21), gender (χ2[1] = 2.26, P = .13), racial/ethnic background (represented by a dichotomous variable of Black/African-American versus other racial/ethnic backgrounds, χ2[1] = .13, P = .72), income (χ2[8] = 7.67, P = 

Discussion

The present study examined the unique roles of AS dimensions and difficulties in emotion regulation in the prediction of a probable PTSD diagnosis among a sample of crack/cocaine dependent patients in residential substance abuse treatment. Consistent with past research (Cox et al., 1999, Fedoroff et al., 2000, Feldner et al., 2008, Lang et al., 2002, Price et al., 2006, Simpson et al., 2006, Taylor et al., 1992; Tull, Barrett, et al., 2007), results provide some support for the relevance of AS

Acknowledgements

Support for this study was provided by R03 DA23001 and R21 DA022383 awarded to the second author (MTT) and R01 DA19405 awarded to the last author (CWL). The authors would like to thank Megan McFadden, Melissa Soenke, and Lizzy Malouf for their assistance with data collection.

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