The Role of Affect in Psychosocial Treatments for Substance Use Disorders

This paper provides a narrative review of studies published over the past five years that have examined the role of affect, including both affective symptoms and affective disorders, in psychosocial treatments for substance use disorder.

A growing body of literature suggests that affective symptoms and affective disorders may moderate substance use disorder treatment efficacy, mediate the effects of treatment on substance use outcomes, and may be directly changed by substance use disorder treatment.

Substance use disorders and affective disorders commonly co-occur, and both affect and affective disorders are associated with substance use disorder treatment outcomes. Future research should continue to examine affect as a moderator, mediator, and outcome of substance use disorder treatments. In particular, new studies that are designed to test precision medicine hypotheses would greatly expand our understanding of the role of affective symptoms and disorders in substance use disorder treatment.