Trauma and substance cue reactivity in individuals with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and cocaine or alcohol dependence

Abstract

Although the high comorbidity of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders has been firmly established, no laboratory-based studies have been conducted to examine relationships between the two disorders. Using cue reactivity methodology, this study examined the impact of personalized trauma-image cues and in vivo drug cues on drug-related responding (e.g. craving) in individuals with PTSD and either crack cocaine (CD) or alcohol dependence (AD). CD and AD groups displayed reactivity to both trauma and drug cues when compared to neutral cues, including increased craving. However, the AD group was more reactive than the CD group to both classes of cues. The CD participants were more reactive to trauma-image cues if drug-related material was included in the image while the AD participants were reactive to the trauma cues regardless of drug-related content. It is hypothesized that PTSD-related negative emotion may play a relatively more important role in the maintenance of AD when compared to CD. Evidence that substance dependent individuals with PTSD report increased substance craving in response to trauma memories is offered as a potential contributing factor in the poorer substance abuse treatment outcomes previously documented in this comorbid population.