title: Psychosocial Functioning of People with Substance Abuse and Bipolar Disorders.
abstract: This study assessed whether a secondary diagnosis of a substance use disorder in hospitalized people with bipolar disorder was associated with poorer outcomes on self-reported measures of mood (Profile of Mood States), subjective distress (Behavior and Symptom Identification Scale), and coping resources (Coping Resources Inventory), and with specific patient characteristics. Sixty-two patients with bipolar disorder and a secondary diagnosis of a substance use disorder and 60 patients with only a bipolar disorder diagnosis participated. Patients with bipolar disorder and a secondary diagnosis of a substance use disorder perceived significantly more impairment on all three measures than did patients without the secondary diagnosis. Moreover, the background characteristics of a history of violence, past or current involvement with the criminal justice system, and not having an antipsychotic medication prescribed during hospitalization had the strongest association with having a secondary diagnosis of a substance use disorder among the characteristics examined. These findings suggest the existence of a subgroup of patients with substance abuse and bipolar disorders who have substantial psychosocial impairment and probably require more intense treatment.
authors.affiliation: University of Texas-Houston Health Science Center, School of Nursing, Houston, Texas.
authors.forename: Linda E.
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Pollack
authors.forename: Roxy D.
authors.initials: RD
authors.lastname: Cramer
authors.forename: Roy V.
authors.initials: RV
authors.lastname: Varner