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Scandinavian Journal of Public Health, Vol. 26, No. 1, 63-70 (1998)
DOI: 10.1177/14034948980260010101

Social consequences of substance abuse: the impact of comorbid psychiatric disorders. A prospective study of a nation-wide sample of treatment-seeking patients

Kristinn Tomasson

Department of Psychiatry, National University Hospital, Reykjavík, Iceland

Per Vaglum

Department of Behavioural Sciences in Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway

This is both a retrospective and a 16 and 28 months prospective study of the association between psychiatric comorbidity and social consequences (accidents, fights, broken relationships, drunken driving arrests, and reduced employment) related to alcohol in a nation-wide sample (n=351) of substance abusers seeking inpatient treatment. Psychiatric comorbidity was evaluated with the Diagnostic Interview Schedule, while drinking history and social consequences were assessed with a structured questionnaire. The social consequences had a high rate of re-occurrence. Controlled for alcohol consumption, polysubstance abuse predicted accidents (OR=2.9) and fights (OR=3.9) among men, while among pure alcoholics of both sexes phobia (OR=4.3) and antisocial personality disorder (OR=3.0) predicted fights. Only level of abuse predicted broken relationships. Antisocials had most drunken driving arrests. Attempts to reduce these social consequences should aim at treating polysubstance abuse, phobia, and antisocial personality disorder. However, the overriding aim should be the promotion of abstinence.

Key Words: alcohol • substance use disorder • social consequences • psychiatric disorder • comorbidity.


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