[Changes in core beliefs associated with addiction among substance-dependent patients with vs. without comorbid...

The aims of this study were: 1) To evaluate the predictive ability of cognitive beliefs about craving and alcohol use during treatment; and 2) To examine the course of cognitive beliefs, over a nine-month follow-up, as a function of comorbidity with personality disorders (PDs). Participants in the study were sixty-five alcohol-dependent patients initiating treatment at the Provincial Drug-Dependence Centre in Granada (Spain), 56.4% of whom had comorbid personality disorder. We administered the "Questionnaire on beliefs related to addiction and craving", taking number of alcohol-use episodes during treatment and degree of psychological adjustment as outcome variables. We used linear regression models to analyze the relation between questionnaire items and outcome variables, and related-samples t-tests to examine the course of beliefs throughout the follow-up. Results indicate that it is feasible to reliably measure a range of dysfunctional beliefs associated with addiction, that the degree of identification with these beliefs significantly predicts craving and alcohol use during treatment, and that the course of identification with these beliefs is considerably more irregular in alcohol-dependent individuals with comorbid PDs.