SUBSTANCE-ABUSE, COMORBIDITY, AND SENSATION SEEKING - GENDER DIFFERENCES

Two hundred sixty-two probands and 261 of their relatives with DSM-III -R diagnoses of drug and alcohol abuse and/or anxiety disorders comple ted the Zuckerman Sensation Seeking Scale. It was hypothesised that su bjects with both substance abuse disorders and comorbid anxiety disord ers would have lower sensation-seeking profiles than subjects with sub stance abuse alone. This was confirmed in women, with thrill- and adve nture-seeking scores showing significant differences between pure subs tance abusers and those with a comorbid anxiety disorder, lending supp ort to theories that substance abusers are a heterogeneous group. In m en, there were fewer significant differences between diagnostic groups . If substance abusers are indeed a heterogeneous group, with some mot ivated by high sensation-seeking needs, a better understanding of thes e motivations can lead to more effective strategies of prevention and treatment, according to etiology. Copyright (C) 1996 by W.B. Saunders Company