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Implications of Depression on Outcome from Alcohol Dependence: A 3‐Year Prospective Follow‐up
Author(s) -
Hodgins David C.,
ElGuebaly Nady,
Armstrong Susan,
Dufour Marie
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
alcoholism: clinical and experimental research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 153
eISSN - 1530-0277
pISSN - 0145-6008
DOI - 10.1111/j.1530-0277.1999.tb04037.x
Subject(s) - depression (economics) , outcome (game theory) , alcohol , alcohol dependence , prospective cohort study , psychiatry , psychology , medicine , clinical psychology , mathematics , economics , biology , keynesian economics , biochemistry , mathematical economics
The prognostic implications of comorbid depression for outcome from alcohol dependence are unclear. It has been suggested that drinking may represent self‐medication of depressive disorders and, alternatively, that the pharmacological properties of alcohol induce episodes of depression. In the present study, these questions were investigated by following 84 alcohol‐dependent individuals seeking treatment (34% women) for 3 years in a naturalistic, prospective design. During the follow‐up period, depressive and drinking outcomes were significantly related. However, there was no evidence that drinking reliably preceded depressive episodes or that depressive episodes precipitated heavy drinking. Despite their high co‐occurrence, this study did not find evidence of a strong, direct causal relationship between these phenomena.