Alcohol as an unproductive strategy for coping with psychological distress in depressive disorders
T. I. Medvedeva, S. N. Enikolopov, O. Y. Vorontsova, O. M. Boyko, M. I. OleychikIntroduction
Alcoholism is quite often combined with other mental illnesses. There are two aspects of the interaction between alcoholism and mental disorder: the influence of mental disorder on alcoholism, and the possible influence of alcohol on mental disorder.
Objectives
The aim of the study was to analyse the specifics of alcohol use by patients with depression, assessment of the connection with ego identity.
Methods
77 patients (31.2% male, mean age 21.8±4.3) with depressive states (F31.3-4; F34.0; F21.3-4+F31.3-4; F60.X+F31.3-4).
Alcohol consumption was assessed using the ‘alcohol consumption’ scale of The questionnaire for diagnosing manifestations of psychological distress (Rasskazova, Sadovnichaja, 2022) was developed for research by E.G. Demenko (Demenko et al., 2018). Based on this scale, the subjects were divided into two subgroups: ‘No alcohol consumption’ (N=24) and ‘Alcohol consumption’ (N=53), that did not differ in terms of socio-demographic indicators.
SCL-90-R, Cambridge Depersonalisation Scale (CDS), Ammon Ich Structur Test (ISTA) measures personality traits formed as a result of early relationships with significant others, Constructive Thinking Index (CTI), Questions about the propensity for risky behavior (answers on a Likert scale) were used. Subgroups were compared using analysis of variance in SPSS.
Results
The results showed that the group ‘Alcohol consumption’ had higher scores on the SCL-90R scales, dissociative phenomenology (CDS), categorical thinking (
СТI
), high level of destructive internal and external ego demarcation (ISTA) (see Tabl.). The ‘Alcohol consumption’ group also has a higher level of risk-taking behaviour (20% in the no-alcohol group versus 50% in the alcohol group).
Comparison of subgroups without and with alcohol consumption Table 1. Long description.