Demographic and social adjustment characteristics of patients with comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder and alcohol dependence: potential pitfalls to PTSD treatment

Abstract

The present study examined the demographic and social adjustment characteristics of a sample seeking treatment for comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol dependence (AD). Using descriptive statistics, we compared the characteristics of this group to those of a sample seeking treatment for PTSD alone and to another sample seeking treatment for AD alone. Results indicated that compared to the PTSD alone and AD alone samples, a greater percentage of the comorbid sample was unemployed, with low income and living without the support of a spouse or intimate partner. Further, participants in the comorbid sample were less likely than those in the PTSD alone sample to have received more than a high school education, though the comorbid and AD samples were comparable on education level. These results are discussed with attention to how poor social adjustment may place comorbid AD-PTSD patients at greater risk for premature termination of therapy, particularly when that treatment is focused on alleviating PTSD symptoms. Suggestions are made to enhance retention of these difficult patients in treatment programs.