Early life experiences of trauma are known to significantly increase the risk of substance use in adolescence and adulthood. It has been suggested that individuals may use alcohol or drugs as a means of temporarily relieving themselves from psychological distress, however this can lead to increased emotional dysregulation in the long term.

Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) for adolescent suffering from PTSD and SUDs focuses on developing awareness of unhelpful thought patterns and cognitive restructuring. 

A recent study, published in the Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy, has...

Recent studies carried out by researchers from Vanderbilt University and Johns Hopkins University have examined characteristics linked with the heightened risk NAS.

The researchers found that boys are more likely to receive a diagnosis of NAS and need treatment compared to girls. The researchers suggest this may be because males may be more sensitive to the methadone and buprenorphine used to treat their mothers' opioid use disorder (OUD).

Their analysis also found that maternal polysubstance use and high doses of buprenorphine were also linked with greater infant NAS severity. 

These...

Abstract

Aims

The main aim was to investigate the relative roles of mental distress and intrinsic motivation for relapse after inpatient substance use disorder (SUD) treatment, while adjusting for demographics and treatment variables.

Methods

The study is based on a prospective multicenter study with a baseline gross sample of 607 patients with SUD (response rate = 84%) admitted to an inpatient stay at one of five specialized SUD treatment centers in Norway. The analytical sample consisted of patients with illicit drug use (n = 374) who took part in a follow-up interview three...

Opioid medication for chronic pain can be an effective treatment. Most patients take the medication as prescribed, however some individuals can become addicted to the drug, leading to opioid misuse. Prescription opioid misuse is a significant public health concern that can result in severe health and psychological risks. 

An intervention that has shown to be effective in reducing chronic pain patients' misuse of opioids is Mindfulness-Oriented Recovery Enhancement (MORE)- a  therapeutic approach that integrates mindfulness training, cognitive reappraisal skills, and positive emotion...

Substance use is one way that people deal with the difficult symptoms present in mood and anxiety disorders. As people become more reliant on the effects of the substances to relieve distress the use can develop into dependence. Self‐medication has been proposed as a reason for the high rates of comorbidity between mood and anxiety disorders and substance use disorders.

A recent review, published in the Journal of Depression and Anxiety, has examined the current literature on the prevalence of substance use as self-medication, the comorbidity between mood and anxiety disorders and substance...