Buckner Julia D, Scherzer Caroline R, Vargo Luke A, Morris Paige E, Rogers Andrew H, Zvolensky Michael J
Department of Psychology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA.
Department of Medicine, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY.
J Subst Use. 2025 Feb 9. doi: 10.1080/14659891.2025.2461288.
The opioid epidemic is a significant public health concern, particularly among adults with chronic pain. Although sex differences in opioid-related behaviors have been observed, little work has examined the role of negative affect and related variables in greater opioid misuse severity risk among men.
We tested whether, among 206 (72.3% female) adults (aged 18-64, = 45.5) with chronic lower back pain (CLBP), the relation of sex with opioid misuse severity would be moderated by a range of negative affect-related variables (anxiety, depression, pain anxiety, pain catastrophizing, difficulty with emotion regulation, anxiety sensitivity, and distress intolerance).
Although these negative affect-related variables were related to more severe opioid misuse for both men and women, the relation of sex to misuse varied as a function of the following variables: anxiety, pain anxiety, pain catastrophizing, and difficulty with emotion regulation, such that at higher levels of these variables, men reported more severe opioid misuse than women. This same pattern was not evident for depression, anxiety sensitivity, or distress intolerance.
Results highlight the important roles specific types of negative affect-related variables may play in observed sex differences in opioid misuse severity among individuals with CLBP.
阿片类药物流行是一个重大的公共卫生问题，在患有慢性疼痛的成年人中尤为突出。虽然已经观察到阿片类药物相关行为中的性别差异，但很少有研究探讨消极情绪及相关变量在男性阿片类药物滥用严重程度更高的风险中所起的作用。
我们测试了在206名（72.3%为女性）患有慢性下腰痛（CLBP）的成年人（年龄在18 - 64岁，平均年龄 = 45.5岁）中，性别与阿片类药物滥用严重程度之间的关系是否会受到一系列与消极情绪相关的变量（焦虑、抑郁、疼痛焦虑、疼痛灾难化、情绪调节困难、焦虑敏感性和痛苦不耐受）的调节。
虽然这些与消极情绪相关的变量与男性和女性更严重的阿片类药物滥用都有关，但性别与滥用之间的关系会因以下变量而有所不同：焦虑、疼痛焦虑、疼痛灾难化和情绪调节困难，即在这些变量的较高水平上，男性报告的阿片类药物滥用比女性更严重。对于抑郁、焦虑敏感性或痛苦不耐受，这种模式并不明显。
研究结果突出了特定类型的与消极情绪相关的变量在患有CLBP的个体中阿片类药物滥用严重程度的观察到的性别差异中可能发挥重要作用。
