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Does anxiety sensitivity predict addiction severity in opioid use disorder?
Georgia Stathopoulou1, Alexandra K Gold2, Danielle L Hoyt2
1Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Boston, MA 02114, USA; Harvard Medical School, 25 Shattuck Street, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Addictive Behaviors
|September 28, 2020
Summary
Elevated anxiety sensitivity (AS) predicts more medical and psychiatric problems in opioid use disorder patients. This relationship holds true regardless of sex and is independent of drug use severity, though it is linked to fewer legal issues.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Addiction Medicine
Background:
- Anxiety sensitivity (AS) is the fear of anxiety-related symptoms, often misinterpreted as harmful.
- AS is linked to substance use disorders, but its specific impact on addiction-related problems across life domains is understudied.
- Opioid use disorder (OUD) patients frequently experience life functioning impairments due to addiction.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate if AS predicts addiction-related problems in treatment-refractory OUD outpatients.
- To determine if sex moderates the relationship between AS and addiction-related problems in this population.
Main Methods:
- A sample of 92 treatment-refractory OUD outpatients completed baseline assessments.
- Anxiety Sensitivity Index (ASI) measured AS.
- Addiction Severity Index (ASI) assessed addiction-related problems across medical, psychiatric, social, employment, and legal domains.
Main Results:
- Higher AS scores significantly predicted greater medical and psychiatric problems in OUD patients.
- AS was not initially associated with social, employment, or legal difficulties.
- When controlling for drug use severity, higher AS predicted fewer legal problems.
Conclusions:
- Elevated AS is a significant predictor of increased medical and psychiatric problems in OUD outpatients.
- The findings suggest AS influences addiction-related medical and psychiatric severity, and legal outcomes, irrespective of sex.
- AS may represent a transdiagnostic vulnerability factor for comorbid medical and psychiatric issues in OUD.
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