title: Lifetime PTSD and quality of life among alcohol-dependent men: impact of childhood emotional abuse and dissociation.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of lifetime posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), dissociation and a history of childhood trauma on quality of life (QoL) among men with alcohol dependency. A consecutive series of alcohol-dependent men (N=156) admitted to an inpatient treatment unit were screened using the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test, the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale, the Dissociative Experiences Scale, and the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire. QoL was assessed using the Medical Outcomes Study Short-Form 36-item health survey. Fifty (32.1%) patients had lifetime diagnosis of PTSD. Besides problems related to severity of alcohol use, the lifetime PTSD group was impaired on several physical and mental components of QoL. While the lifetime PTSD group and remaining patients did not differ on reports of childhood trauma and dissociation, in lifetime PTSD group, dissociative patients had higher scores of childhood emotional abuse than those of the non-dissociative patients. In multivariate covariance analysis, both dissociation and lifetime PTSD predicted impairment in physical functioning, general health, vitality, and mental health components of QoL. Among alcohol-dependent men with lifetime PTSD, a history of childhood emotional abuse contributes to impairment of QoL through its relationship with dissociation.
authors.affiliation: Bakirkoy State Hospital for Mental Health and Neurological Disorders, Alcohol and Drug Research, Treatment and Training Center (AMATEM), Istanbul, Turkey. cuneytevren@yahoo.com
authors.forename: Cuneyt
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Evren
authors.forename: Vedat
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sar
authors.forename: Ercan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dalbudak
authors.forename: Rabia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cetin
authors.forename: Mine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Durkaya
authors.forename: Bilge
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Evren
authors.forename: Selime
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Celik
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology*; D004213:Dissociative Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D004644:Emotions / Q000502:physiology; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D011788:Quality of Life; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires