Experiential avoidance, distress tolerance, and substance use cravings among adults in residential treatment for substance use disorders
Open accessAbstract
Substance use cravings are a known predictor of relapse to substance use following treatment for a substance use disorder. Thus, research on factors that may be correlated with cravings, and could then be targeted in substance use treatment, is needed. Both distress tolerance and experiential avoidance, similar but distinct constructs, are independently associated with substance use cravings. However, no known research has examined these constructs as simultaneous predictors of substance use cravings, which may have important implications for treatment. The current study examined this in a sample of men and women in residential substance use treatment (n = 117). The authors used pre-existing data from a larger study where men and women were recruited for participation from a residential substance use treatment facility. The majority of the sample was male (n = 87; 74.3%) and Caucasian (92.2%). The mean age was 41.27 (standard deviation = 10.68). Better distress tolerance and lower experiential avoidance were negatively and significantly associated with alcohol and drug cravings, but only experiential avoidance remained significantly and negatively associated with cravings when both predictors were examined simultaneously. The current findings provide preliminary support for the importance of decreasing experiential avoidance in substance use treatment, which may result in reduced substance use cravings.
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Avoidant coping style has been shown to be associated with the severity of SUD and craving.
“which has been shown to be associated with the severity of SUD and craving.22”
From Feasibility, acceptability and preliminary outcomes of a mindfulness-based relapse prevention program in a naturalistic setting among treatment-seeking patients with alcohol use disorder: A prospective observational study (2019) · cites this paper as [22]
The Results and Discussion report an association between substance-use-specific experiential avoidance and alcohol and drug cravings in adults receiving residential treatment. They do not report that avoidance is associated with SUD severity; substance-use problems were controlled for in the craving analyses. (LLM, conf=0.86)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredExperiential avoidance appears to be associated with substance and alcohol craving.
“which appears to be associated with substance and alcohol craving.22”
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- Authors
- Shorey, R. C., Gawrysiak, M. J., Elmquist, J., Brem, M., Anderson, S., & Stuart, G. L.
- Affiliations
- Ohio University (US)
- Delaware State University (US)
- University of Tennessee at Knoxville (US)
- Cornerstone of Recovery, Louisville, Tennessee, USA
- Corresponding author
- Shorey, Ryan C.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Journal of Addictive Diseases
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2017-03-06
- Volume
- 36
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 151-157
- ISSN
- 1055-0887 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-0848
- PMC
- PMC6126664
- OpenAlex
- W2594031547
- Cited by
- 64
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 7 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 8 · 2020: 5 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4
- FWCI
- 3.21
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Journal of Addictive Diseases (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (F31AA020131, K24AA019707)
- National Institute of General Medical Sciences (P20GM103653)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Substance Abuse Treatment and Outcomes
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Opioid Use Disorder Treatment
- Keywords
- experiential avoidance, distress tolerance, residential addiction treatment, relapse, alcohol craving, drug craving, substance use disorders, predictors of treatment response
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Avoidance Learning, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Surveys and Questionnaires, Regression Analysis, Residential Treatment, Stress, Psychological, Southeastern United States, Substance Abuse Treatment Centers, Substance-Related Disorders, Mindfulness, Craving
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