Distress intolerance in substance dependent patients
Abstract
This study seeks to extend the literature by examining distress tolerance (DT) levels for a substance dependent group of individuals. Next, it considers the potential relationship of DT levels with substance dependence features and finally, it compares those factors with a healthy control group. This study included 93 individuals (49 substance dependent and 44 healthy controls). Participants were evaluated using the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV Axis I Diagnosis (SCID-I) and given the Distress Tolerance Scale (DTS), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and State & Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Consistent with our expectations, the substance dependent group showed higher scores on the BDI and STAI, and lower scores on the DTS. There was no difference between the single drug dependent group and multiple substance-dependent groups, and their DT levels were not correlated with the duration of substance use, nor with the age of first substance use. Instead, DT was strongly correlated with trait anxiety, state anxiety, and depressive symptoms. The DT levels of this group of substance dependent individuals were very low in comparison to controls and to other groups reported in the literature. Our results suggest that distress tolerance may represent a therapeutic target factor in substance dependency treatment. Limitations and future research directions are also discussed.
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Lower levels of DT have been found in individuals with SUDs compared with healthy controls.
“Indeed, many studies have found a negative association between DT and PSU in both clinical and non-clinical samples (Buckner et al., 2016;Bujarski et al., 2012;Gorka et al., 2012), and lower levels of DT have been found in individuals with SUDs when compared with healthy controls ( Özdel and Ekinci, 2014).”
From Distress tolerance across substance use, eating, and borderline personality disorders: A meta-analysis (2022) · cites this paper as Özdel and Ekinci, 2014
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- Authors
- Özdel, K., & Ekinci, S.
- Affiliations
- Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi (TR)
- Balikli Rum Vakfi Hastanesi (TR)
- Corresponding author
- Özdel, Kadir
- ORCID
- Özdel, Kadir
- Venue
- Comprehensive Psychiatry
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2014-05
- Volume
- 55
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 960-965
- ISSN
- 0010-440X (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W2061659715
- Cited by
- 34
- References
- 30
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 3 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 2 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1
- FWCI
- 0.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Comprehensive Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Resilience and Mental Health
- Keywords
- distress tolerance, substance dependence, substance use disorders, depression, anxiety, trait anxiety, state anxiety, Distress Tolerance Scale, treatment goals
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adult, Anxiety, Anxiety Disorders, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Personality Assessment, Psychometrics, Reference Values, Stress, Psychological, Reproducibility of Results, Substance Abuse Treatment Centers, Substance-Related Disorders
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