Associations between post-traumatic stress symptoms, stimulant use, and treatment outcomes: A secondary analysis of NIDA’s Women and Trauma study.

This secondary analysis of data from the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network protocol CTN-0015 (“Women’s Treatment for Trauma and Substance Use Disorders”) examined the associations between post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, stimulant use, and treatment outcomes among dually diagnosed women. Participants were 141 women who participated in the original multisite clinical trial of group treatments for PTSD and addictions. Generalized linear models indicated Seeking Safety (SS, a cognitive-behavioral intervention) was significantly more effective than Women’s Health Education (WHE, a control group intervention) in reducing stimulant use at follow-up among women who were heavy stimulant users at pre-treatment and who showed improvements in PTSD symptoms. There were no significant differences between the interventions among women who were light stimulant users at treatment entry.

Conclusions: These findings add to the growing body of literature on the functional relationship between traumatic stress responses and substance use. Findings suggest that, among heavy stimulant users, integrated treatments that lead to PTSD symptom reductions can in turn improve stimulant use outcomes. This supports treatment models that address PTSD concurrently with substance use disorder treatment.

Related protocols: CTN-0015