Clinical syndromes, complicated grief and substance use disorder

Background: People with substance use disorders present high psychopathological comorbidity. Research has demonstrated that bereaved individuals with Complicated Grief (CG) symptomatology present unusually severe and prolonged symptoms, and that affects important domains. Aim: This study aimed to assess the association between clinical syndromes and CG symptoms among patients with Substance User Disorder (SUD). Methods: A convenience sample of 196 bereaved drug-dependent patients was studied. Sociodemographic characteristics, bereavement and drug-related variables as well as psychopathology were examined. CG symptomatology was measured by the Spanish version of the Inventory of Complicated Grief (ICG). Anxiety, Major Depressive Disorder and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD) were assessed by utilizing the clinical syndrome section of the Spanish version of MCMI-III. A logistic regression analysis was adjusted to identify which variables were associated with CG symptoms. Results: 78.1% were men, and mean age in the sample was 45.59 years (SD=10.14). 34.2% of participants reported symptomatology of CG. Individuals with CG symptoms showed 31.2% higher frequency of Anxiety, 12.5% higher Major Depression and 7.4% higher PTSD. The symptomatology of CG was associated with the presence of Major Depressive Disorder (OR= 1.029) as well as PTSD (OR=1.041). Conclusions: Depression and PTSD were associated with symptomatology of CG. This study suggests the importance of carrying out a rigorous and accurate differential diagnosis of CG symptomatology as well as clinical syndromes among addicted people.