Understanding comorbidity between substance use, anxiety and affective disorders: Broadening the research base
Addictive Behaviors Volume 34, Issues 6-7, June-July 2009, Pages 526-530

In this paper, we argue that the research base for understanding comorbidity between substance use and other mental disorders needs to be broadened. We specifically advocate for:

1) more prospective epidemiological studies of relationships between alcohol and other drug use disorders and anxiety and mood disorders;

2) greater use of twin study designs to disentangle shared genetic and environmental contributions to comorbidity;

3) prospective neuroimaging studies of the effects of early and sustained alcohol and drug use on the developing adolescent brain;

4) a greater focus on the effects on comorbidity of primary and secondary prevention interventions for substance use, anxiety, affective and conduct disorders among children and adolescents; and

5) better evaluations of the impact of treatment upon persons with comorbid substance use and other mental disorders.

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