USF St. Petersburg campus Faculty Publications
Lagged effects of substance use on PTSD severity in a randomized controlled trial with modified prolonged exposure and relapse prevention.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
ISSN
1939-2117
Abstract
Objective: To advance understanding of the effectiveness of evidence-based treatments for comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD), research must provide a more nuanced picture of how substance use affects change in PTSD symptoms over the course of treatments and whether prolonged exposure techniques can be efficacious during active substance use. A data set that included patients with PTSD/subthreshold-PTSD and SUD treated with an exposure-based intervention provided an opportunity to conduct a secondary analysis to test how patients’ substance use impacted PTSD change over treatment. Method: We applied growth models to week-to-week PTSD symptom and substance use changes during treatment and follow-up of a randomized controlled trial of two cognitive– behavioral treatments for PTSD and SUD: Concurrent Treatment of PTSD and SUD Using Prolonged Exposure (COPE) and Relapse Prevention Therapy (RPT). Cross-lagged analyses were used to determine whether prior week substance use impacted subsequent PTSD symptom severity. Results: Both treatments evidenced significant reductions in PTSD symptom severity. In the context of continued substance use, results suggest that individuals still benefit from exposure-based treatment. Conclusion: Results provide evidence that RPT and COPE both led to significant reductions in PTSD, providing further support that exposure-based techniques tailored for SUD can be conducted without jeopardizing PTSD or SUD outcomes. Implications for clinical decision making around treatment selection are discussed.
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Recommended Citation
Hien, D. A., Smith, K. Z., Owens, M., López-Castro, T., Ruglass, L. M., & Papini, S. (2018). Lagged effects of substance use on PTSD severity in a randomized controlled trial with modified prolonged exposure and relapse prevention. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 86, 810–819. doi: 10.1037/ccp0000345
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
Citation only. Full-text article is available through licensed access provided by the publisher. Members of the USF System may access the full-text of the article through the authenticated link provided.
Supplemental materials: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/ccp0000345.supp