Abstract
Objectives
Little is known about whether distress tolerance and anxiety mediate the relationship between comorbid complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) and alcohol use among military veterans. Here, we investigated the contribution of distress tolerance and anxiety on the strength of the CPTSD and alcohol use association. We hypothesized that the impact of a two-factor model of CPTSD derived from subscale scores on the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ)—namely ITQ PTSD and ITQ Disturbances in Self Organization (DSO; e.g., issues with affective regulation/self-belief and shame)—on alcohol use severity would be mediated by anxiety but not by distress tolerance.
Methods
Participants included 403 community-dwelling United Kingdom (UK) veterans (91.64% male, Mage = 51.15 years, SD = 12.48) recruited as part of a larger, online study.
Results
Findings indicated that the influence of CPTSD symptoms on alcohol use severity was mediated by anxiety, not by distress tolerance, with greater relative impact due to ITQ DSO status than ITQ PTSD status.
Conclusions
We identified the mediational influence of anxiety and distress tolerance on the association between CPTSD subscales and alcohol use in UK veterans. Interventions for anxiety may be adapted for reducing problematic alcohol use and the impact of CPTSD symptoms in veterans with comorbid PTSD and alcohol use disorder.
Little is known about whether distress tolerance and anxiety mediate the relationship between comorbid complex posttraumatic stress disorder (CPTSD) and alcohol use among military veterans. Here, we investigated the contribution of distress tolerance and anxiety on the strength of the CPTSD and alcohol use association. We hypothesized that the impact of a two-factor model of CPTSD derived from subscale scores on the International Trauma Questionnaire (ITQ)—namely ITQ PTSD and ITQ Disturbances in Self Organization (DSO; e.g., issues with affective regulation/self-belief and shame)—on alcohol use severity would be mediated by anxiety but not by distress tolerance.
Methods
Participants included 403 community-dwelling United Kingdom (UK) veterans (91.64% male, Mage = 51.15 years, SD = 12.48) recruited as part of a larger, online study.
Results
Findings indicated that the influence of CPTSD symptoms on alcohol use severity was mediated by anxiety, not by distress tolerance, with greater relative impact due to ITQ DSO status than ITQ PTSD status.
Conclusions
We identified the mediational influence of anxiety and distress tolerance on the association between CPTSD subscales and alcohol use in UK veterans. Interventions for anxiety may be adapted for reducing problematic alcohol use and the impact of CPTSD symptoms in veterans with comorbid PTSD and alcohol use disorder.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 158-169 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Journal of Clinical Psychology |
| Volume | 80 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| Early online date | 20 Oct 2023 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2024 |
Keywords
- complex PTSD
- disorders of self-organization
- alcohol use
- anxiety
- distress tolerance
- veterans
Access to Document
- Anxiety, distress tolerance, and the relationship between complex posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and alcohol use in veterans
Copyright 2023 The Authors. This is an open access article published under a Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the author and source are cited.