Objective: Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol use disorder (AUD) are common following trauma, and they tend to co-occur. Historically, males have been at higher risk for AUD and females at higher risk for PTSD. One explanation for the co-occurrence of these two conditions is the self-medication model, in which individuals with more PTSD symptoms turn to alcohol to alleviate their trauma-related symptoms, and this uptick in alcohol use may increase propensity for AUD symptoms. Much of this work has focused on broad drinking to cope motives, but recent work found that a specific trauma-related drinking (TRD) measure mediated the effect of PTSD on AUD. Less clear is whether this indirect effect will hold longitudinally, over and above other distress-related disorders (anxiety and depression), and whether effects of PTSD on TRD and TRD on AUD differ for males and females. Method: Participants came from a larger, longitudinal study of college students. Individuals reported at least one lifetime trauma and consumed at least one alcoholic drink to be included (n = 571; 81% female). Results: Longitudinal moderated mediation models revealed that TRD mediated the effect of PTSD symptoms on AUD symptoms for females, but not males. Effects of anxiety and depression were not associated with TRD or AUD symptoms. Conclusions: Findings suggest that females with more PTSD symptoms may be a particularly high-risk group on whom interventions not only to treat these trauma-related symptoms but also to prevent the onset of AUD via TRD ought to be focused.
Bountress et al. (Wed,) studied this question.
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