Comorbidity of substance use disorders with mood and anxiety disorders: Results of the international consortium in psychiatric epidemiology

TLDR: In this paper, the authors report the results of a cross-national investigation of patterns of comorbidity between substance use and psychiatric disorders in six studies participating in the International Consortium in Psychiatric Epidemiology.

About: This article is published in Addictive Behaviors.The article was published on 1998-11-01 and is currently open access. It has received 667 citations till now. The article focuses on the topics: Epidemiology of child psychiatric disorders & Mood disorders.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What are the contributions in "Comorbidity of substance use disorders with mood and anxiety disorders: results of the international consortium in psychiatric epidemiology" ?

This article reports the results of a cross-national investigation of patterns of comorbidity between substance use and psychiatric disorders in six studies participating in the International Consortium in Psychiatric Epidemiology. In addition to the clear need to examine a spectrum of substance use problems relative to diverse comorbid disorders, research over the past three decades has also produced varied results as a function of changing diagnostic criteria and the use of samples that may not be representative of the general population. Using available epidemiologic data sets from Canada, Germany, Mexico, the Netherlands, and the United States, the major goals of this investigation are: 1. to investigate the magnitude of comorbidity of alcohol and drug use, problem use, and dependence in relation to mood disorders, anxiety disorders, conduct disorder, and antisocial personality disorder ; 2. to examine the association between the severity of substance use and the number of comorbid psychiatric disorders ; and 3. to evaluate the patterns of onset for mood and anxiety disorders across ICPE sites with respect to alcohol or drug use, problem use, and dependence. The results also suggest that there is a continuum in the magnitude of comorbidity as a function of the spectrum of substance use category ( use, problems, dependence ), as well as a direct relationship between the number of comorbid disorders and increasing levels of severity of substance use disorders ( which was particularly pronounced for drugs ). Similarly, investigations examining potential causal relationships among these conditions have been the source of considerable debate. Furthermore alcohol dependence may differ in important ways in its association with anxiety, depression, or other conditions. 

Q2. What have the authors stated for future works in "Comorbidity of substance use disorders with mood and anxiety disorders: results of the international consortium in psychiatric epidemiology" ?

Future studies designed to elucidate the mechanisms for the development of comorbidity between substance and psychiatric disorders within a given cultural context will provide a stronger basis for determining the treatment and prevention implications of these findings. 

Q3. How many people with alcohol disorders had a lifetime history of conduct problems?

Between one quarter and one half of those with alcohol disorders also reported a lifetime history of either conduct problems or antisocial personality. 

Q4. How many adults are in the sample?

The sample consists of 3,012 adults living in households between the ages of 18 and 59 years of age and is stratified on sex and place of residence. 

Q5. What is the significance of cross-cultural approaches to psychiatric epidemiology?

With respect to substance abuse, the crosscultural applicability of the diagnosis and assessment of substance use disorders across nine cultures was examined by a recent WHO study (Room et al., 1996). 

Q6. What were the characteristics of the drug and alcohol variables at the Netherlands site?

At the Netherlands site, drug use was based on reported use of a drug 5 or more times and alcohol/drug problems were based on abuse symptoms rather than criteria.