Anxiety and depression in alcohol use disorder individuals: the role of personality and coping strategies

Background: Anxiety and depression favor the maintenance and relapse of alcohol use disorders (AUDs). Some five factor model personality dimensions (e.g. high neuroticism, low extraversion, and conscientiousness) and coping strategies (e.g. high avoidant and low problem-focused) are associated with AUD and with anxiety and/or depression in AUD individuals. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate personality and coping in an AUD population as potential predictors of anxiety and depression. Methods: Through a cross-sectional and multicenter study, 122 AUD people (74 men and 48 women) responded to a sociodemographic interview and three self-questionnaires assessing personality (BFI), coping strategies (brief COPE), and anxiety-depression symptomatology (HADS). Comparative and correlational analyses, as well as hierarchical regressions, were performed. Results: AUD women show higher neuroticism, use more emotion-focused coping and less problem-focused coping than AUD men. They also present higher anxiety. Neuroticism is associated with an ineffective use of coping strategies. Other dimensions, such as openness to experience, extraversion, and conscientiousness, show negative relationships with avoidant coping and positive links with problem-focused strategies. Neuroticism, avoidant coping and gender are predictive for anxiety. Both avoidant and problem-focused coping, but no personality dimension, are predictive for depression. Conclusion: These findings underscore the importance of interventions involving specific coping strategies in AUD patients (whether or not anxiety and/or depression is present), both to reduce alcohol use and prevent relapse. Specific therapeutic support for women would be beneficial in the case of anxiety comorbidity.