Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Boston University, 900 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, MA 02215, USA.
Addict Behav. 2021 Jan;112:106644. doi: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2020.106644. Epub 2020 Sep 6.
Increased anxiety sensitivity (AS), or the fear of anxiety-related cognitive, social, and physical symptoms which are misinterpreted as having harmful implications, has shown a relationship with substance use disorders. People with substance use disorders also experience addiction-related problems across domains of life functioning. However, few studies have evaluated the relationship between elevated AS and addiction-related problems across specific life areas. We evaluated, first, whether AS predicted addiction-related problems in a sample of treatment-refractory outpatients with opioid use disorders and, second, whether sex moderated the relationship between AS and addiction-related problems in this sample. Participants with treatment-refractory opioid use disorders (n = 92, 53.3% male) completed baseline assessments of AS (the Anxiety Sensitivity Index) and addiction-related problems (the Addiction Severity Index). Baseline AS total score was a significant independent predictor of both baseline Addiction Severity Index medical status (β = 0.29, t = 2.84, p = .006) and psychiatric status (β = 0.30, t = 2.99, p = .004) composite scores but was not associated with social, employment or legal difficulties. These findings were maintained when controlling for drug use severity, though baseline AS total score became a significant predictor of baseline legal difficulties (β = -0.23, t = -2.25, p = .027). There was no moderating role of sex on the relationship between baseline AS and addiction-related problems. Our findings suggest that, regardless of sex, elevated AS predicts increased addiction-related medical and psychiatric problems, and decreased legal problems when accounting for drug use severity, in outpatients with opioid use disorders.
焦虑敏感（AS）增加，或对焦虑相关的认知、社会和身体症状的恐惧，这些症状被误解为具有有害影响，与物质使用障碍有关。物质使用障碍患者在生活功能的各个领域也经历与成瘾相关的问题。然而，很少有研究评估升高的 AS 与特定生活领域的成瘾相关问题之间的关系。我们首先评估了在治疗抵抗的阿片类药物使用障碍门诊患者样本中，AS 是否预测与成瘾相关的问题，其次评估了在该样本中，性别是否调节 AS 与与成瘾相关的问题之间的关系。有治疗抵抗性阿片类药物使用障碍的参与者（n=92，53.3%为男性）完成了 AS（焦虑敏感指数）和与成瘾相关的问题（成瘾严重程度指数）的基线评估。基线 AS 总分是基线成瘾严重程度指数医学状况（β=0.29，t=2.84，p=0.006）和精神病学状况（β=0.30，t=2.99，p=0.004）复合评分的显著独立预测因素，但与社会、就业或法律困难无关。当控制药物使用严重程度时，这些发现仍然成立，尽管基线 AS 总分成为基线法律困难的显著预测因素（β=-0.23，t=-2.25，p=0.027）。性别对基线 AS 与与成瘾相关的问题之间的关系没有调节作用。我们的研究结果表明，无论性别如何，升高的 AS 预测阿片类药物使用障碍门诊患者中与成瘾相关的医学和精神病学问题增加，药物使用严重程度不变时法律问题减少。
