Symposia
Addictive Behaviors
Andrew Rogers, M.A. (he/him/his)
University of Washington Medical Center
Seattle, Washington
Joseph Ditre, Ph.D.
Professor
Syracuse University
Syracuse, New York
Julia D. Buckner, Ph.D. (she/her/hers)
Professor
Louisiana State University
Baton Rogue, Louisiana
Gordon Asmundson, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Regina
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Michael J. Zvolensky, Ph.D.
Professor
University of Houston
Houston, Texas
The opioid epidemic is a public health problem associated with a host of negative outcomes. Although clinicians recognize covariation between opioid misuse with anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders, research on this topic has only recently accumulated. Progress in this domain is impeded by the lack of systematic and integrative research to better understand and treat these co-occurring problems. This paper represents the first attempt to systematically review the empirical literature examining relations between opioid use and misuse, and anxiety and depression.
First, we define key terms and describe the article selection strategy. In the second section, we review the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among individuals who use and misuse prescription and illicit opioids. We also include discussion around different definitions of opioid misuse and problematic opioid use, and how these differ based on the population studied. In the third section, we review the magnitude of associations between anxiety and depressive symptoms and disorders with opioid misuse, as well as highlight studies examining the longitudinal and temporal sequence of the relations between these variables. In the fourth section, we focus on experimental therapeutics, reviewing what is known about individual difference and transdiagnostic vulnerability factors for anxiety and depression that might contribute to opioid misuse and its symptoms. Finally, we discuss current knowledge gaps and present a heuristic model to guide future research.
Overall, this paper synthesizes the literature and highlights the importance in considering mental health factors in opioid misuse, and also provides important context to guide further intervention development.