Pagano Maria E, Phillips Katharine A, Stout Robert L, Menard William, Piliavin Jane A
Department of Psychiatry, Division of Child Psychiatry, Case Western Reserve University, 11100 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106-5080, USA.
J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2007 Mar;68(2):291-5. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2007.68.291.
Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-step facilitated treatments for substance-use disorders (SUDs) encourage individuals with SUD to consider the needs of others and engage in helping behaviors as a method to become sober. SUDs are one of the most common comorbid disorders among individuals with body dysmorphic disorder (BDD). The purpose of this study is to examine prospectively the relationship between helping behaviors and the likelihood of SUD and BDD remission.
Data on 163 individuals during the course of 3 years were derived from the Prospective Study of Body Dysmorphic Disorder, a longitudinal investigation of patterns and predictors of the course of BDD. Kaplan-Meier survival estimates were used to calculate probabilities of time to BDD and SUD remission. Cox regression analyses were conducted to calculate the relative likelihood of levels of helping behaviors as time-varying predictors of remission from both SUD and BDD.
The course of SUD and BDD was chronic for most subjects; the estimated probability of remission from an SUD across 3 years was .29 and .17 for a full BDD remission. Results indicated that increases in helping behaviors were significantly predictive of SUD remission (hazard ratio [HR] = 2.59, p = .0134). Helping behaviors were also predictive of BDD remission among those with or without SUD but at a trend level of significance (HR = 1.51, p = .0676).
These findings extend previous work reporting significant relationships between helping behaviors and positive long-term SUD outcomes. Implications of the mechanisms involved in the link between helping behaviors and remission from SUD and BDD are discussed.
戒酒互助会及针对物质使用障碍（SUD）的12步促进疗法鼓励患有SUD的个体考虑他人需求并参与帮助行为，以此作为戒酒的一种方法。SUD是身体变形障碍（BDD）患者中最常见的共病障碍之一。本研究的目的是前瞻性地考察帮助行为与SUD及BDD缓解可能性之间的关系。
关于163名个体的3年数据来自身体变形障碍前瞻性研究，这是一项对BDD病程模式及预测因素的纵向调查。采用Kaplan-Meier生存估计法计算BDD和SUD缓解时间的概率。进行Cox回归分析，以计算帮助行为水平作为SUD和BDD缓解的时变预测因素的相对可能性。
大多数受试者的SUD和BDD病程呈慢性；3年内SUD缓解的估计概率为0.29，BDD完全缓解的概率为0.17。结果表明，帮助行为的增加显著预测SUD缓解（风险比[HR]=2.59，p=0.0134）。帮助行为在有或无SUD的个体中也预测BDD缓解，但处于趋势性显著水平（HR=1.51，p=0.0676）。
这些发现扩展了先前的研究工作，即报告了帮助行为与SUD长期积极结果之间的显著关系。讨论了帮助行为与SUD和BDD缓解之间联系所涉及机制的意义。
