Dispositional Disinhibition and Alcohol Use Disorders: Personality, Risk Appraisal and Problematic Alcohol Consumption

Abstinence duration and psychopathology among addiction outpatients during 18 months of COVID-19

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the mental health of patients with substance use disorder (SUD). However, few longitudinal studies have been done which examine associations between the pandemic, SUD patients' mental health and their drug use.

Objectives

This study aimed to examine duration of abstinence according to psychiatric status among SUD outpatients followed-up for 18 months from the pandemic related lockdown.

Methods

A follow-up study of 316 SUD outpatients was undertaken. Sociodemographic features, and clinical and consumption related variables were recorded. Pre, during and post lockdown information was evaluated. Abstinence/substance use was monitored at the patient's scheduled follow-up appointments, and psychiatric disorders and psychological variables were revaluated at 18 months.

Results

Survival analyses were used to compare the duration of abstinence (in months) from the beginning of the lockdown. It was observed that 70% of patients consumed the main substance for which they were being treated at some point during the follow-up. Men, younger patients, those with more symptoms of anxiety and personality disorders, and patients who experienced increased craving during follow-up, showed shorter duration of abstinence. While patients who had previously maintained at least one year of abstinence, achieved better results.

Conclusions

During the first year and a half of the pandemic, SUD outpatients presented alterations in mental health, such us anxiety, depression and maladaptive personality traits and a high rate of relapse. For this reason, despite the health and social crisis and their restrictive measures, a comprehensive treatment should be ensured.

Social processes during recovery: An expansion of Kelly and Hoeppner's biaxial formulation of recovery

Recent conceptualizations frame addiction recovery as a complex process involving changes across behavioral, physical, psychological, and social domains. These broad conceptualizations can be difficult to apply directly to research, making detailed models of individual dimensions necessary to guide empirical work and subsequent clinical interventions. We used Kelly and Hoeppner's (2015) biaxial formulation of recovery as a basis for a detailed examination of social processes in recovery using social network approaches. We delineated how appraisal of situational risks and social network resources result in coping actions, and how repeated iterations of this process change a person's social recovery capital over time. In addition, we incorporated the experience of interpersonal trauma and structural oppression, and demonstrated how the model accommodates the complex issues often encountered during recovery. We present a measurable framework that can guide empirical testing of how social processes and social recovery capital change over time during recovery. The model presented here illuminates key factors in the recovery process that have the potential to support trauma- and social-network-informed interventions. We call for research that empirically tests this model in ways that will result in practical, trauma-informed social network interventions for people in recovery.

The role of rash impulsivity and sensitivity to reward in soft drink consumption

Soft drink consumption has become a major public health issue. The present study aimed to examine the role of rash impulsivity and reward sensitivity in soft drink consumption using the two-factor model of impulsivity. Participants were a community sample of 229 adults (19-77 years). They completed self-report measures of impulsivity (SUPPS-P), reward sensitivity (RST-PQ) and beverage consumption (BEVQ-15). A principal component analysis was used to produce purer measures of rash impulsivity and reward sensitivity. Both rash impulsivity and reward sensitivity were positively associated with soft drink consumption, and each independently predicted soft drink consumption. Importantly, there was a significant interaction between the two, whereby rash impulsivity moderated the effect of reward sensitivity on soft drink consumption. The results support the logic of the two-factor model of impulsivity in the prediction of soft drink consumption. Further research should extend these findings to other consumption domains in both clinical and non-clinical populations.