Therapy, Drugs, and Therapy on Drugs

Dr. Lukas A. Basedow

Postdoctoral Researcher

Dept. of Psychology - Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy I

Phillips Universität Marburg

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Self-reported PTSD is associated with increased use of MDMA in adolescents with substance use disorders

Journal article

Lukas A. Basedow, Sören Kuitunen-Paul, Melina F. Wiedmann, Veit Roessner, Yulia Golub
European Journal of Psychotraumatology, vol. 12, Taylor & Francis, 2021, p. 1968140
DOI: 10.1080/20008198.2021.1968140
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APA
Basedow, L. A., Kuitunen-Paul, S., Wiedmann, M. F., Roessner, V., & Golub, Y. (2021). Self-reported PTSD is associated with increased use of MDMA in adolescents with substance use disorders. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 12, 1968140.

Chicago/Turabian
Basedow, Lukas A., Sören Kuitunen-Paul, Melina F. Wiedmann, Veit Roessner, and Yulia Golub. “Self-Reported PTSD Is Associated with Increased Use of MDMA in Adolescents with Substance Use Disorders.” European Journal of Psychotraumatology 12 (2021): 1968140.

MLA
Basedow, Lukas A., et al. “Self-Reported PTSD Is Associated with Increased Use of MDMA in Adolescents with Substance Use Disorders.” European Journal of Psychotraumatology, vol. 12, Taylor & Francis, 2021, p. 1968140.

 
ABSTRACT
Background
Adolescent patients with a substance use disorder (SUD) often fulfil the criteria for a co-occurring post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, it is not clear if these dual-diagnosed adolescents present with unique levels of substance use and how their substance use relates to PTSD symptom clusters.

Objective
To investigate substance use in adolescents with co-occurring PTSD and SUD. Additionally, we explored how the use of specific substances is related to specific PTSD symptom clusters.

Method
We recruited n = 121 German adolescent SUD patients, in three groups: no history of traumatic events (TEs) (n = 35), TEs but not PTSD (n = 48), probable PTSD (n = 38). All groups were administered a trauma questionnaire and were asked to report their past-month substance use.

Results
Adolescents with probable PTSD and SUD report a higher frequency of MDMA use than adolescents with no PTSD and no TE (PTSD vs. noTE: U = 510.5, p = .016; PTSD vs. TE: U = 710.0, p = .010). The use of MDMA was more frequent in adolescents with avoidance symptoms (X2 (1) = 6.0, p = .014). Participants report using substances at a younger age (PTSD vs. noTE: U = 372.0, p = .001; PTSD vs. TE: U = 653.5, p = .022) and PTSD symptom onset was on average 2.2 years earlier than first MDMA use (t (26) = −2.89, p = .008).

Conclusions
Adolescent SUD patients with probable PTSD are more likely to use MDMA than SUD patients without PTSD. The use of MDMA was associated with reported avoidance symptoms. The first age of MDMA use is initiated after PTSD onset. It is unclear whether the association of MDMA use with avoidance symptoms is due to efforts to reduce these symptoms or a result of regular MDMA use. 
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