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Individual Oral Paper

Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders and Disasters

Biopsychosocial Predictors of Substance Use

3 - (IOP 29) The Effects of Emotion Dysregulation on the Time-varying Associations Between Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Opioid Cravings Among Individuals Who Use Opioids

Sunday, November 23, 2025
10:30 AM - 10:45 AM CST
Location: Imperial 12, Level 4
Keywords: PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder), Substance Abuse, Longitudinal
Recommended Readings: Danovitch, I. (2016). Post-traumatic stress disorder and opioid use disorder: A narrative review of conceptual models. Journal of addictive diseases, 35(3), 169-179.,   Asparouhov, T., Hamaker, E. L., & Muthén, B. (2018). Dynamic structural equation models. Structural equation modeling: a multidisciplinary journal, 25(3), 359-388.,   Seligowski, A. V., Lee, D. J., Bardeen, J. R., & Orcutt, H. K. (2015). Emotion regulation and posttraumatic stress symptoms: A meta-analysis. Cognitive behaviour therapy, 44(2), 87-102.,   ,  
Background: Posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are highly prevalent and burdensome among individuals who use opioids. According to the self-medication framework, PTSS may trigger opioid cravings as individuals seek relief from trauma-related distress. This trajectory may be particularly pronounced for individuals with greater emotion dysregulation, who have limited means of coping with intense trauma-related emotions. This study is the first to examine how emotion dysregulation may impact the daily dynamic associations between PTSS and opioid cravings.

Methods: Community-based participatory research (CBPR) methods were utilized to center the experiences of those directly impacted by this research. Participants were 53 trauma-exposed community members (Mage = 45.2 years; 81% white; 72% disabled; 57% men; 38% without stable housing; 9.4% LGBTQ+) using opioids and at elevated risk of suicide. Participants self-reported on emotion dysregulation at baseline. Participants self-reported on PTSS and opioid cravings twice daily for 14 days. Dynamic Structural Equation Modeling was used in Mplus.

Results: There was a significant influence of emotion dysregulation on the random cross-lagged effect for PTSS predicting next-survey opioid cravings, in which higher emotion dysregulation was associated with a stronger slope between PTSS and opioid cravings (Fixed Effect Estimate = 0.09, 95% CI[0.02, 0.13]).

Conclusion: Findings suggest that individuals with heightened emotion dysregulation are at increased risk of PTSS that leads to opioid cravings among individuals with lived experiences of trauma and who use opioids. This study shows promise for mobile health interventions targeting both emotion dysregulation and PTSS to reduce opioid-related harms following trauma. Clinical implications will also be discussed in the context of sample demographics.

Learning Objectives:

At the end of this session, the learner will be able to:
  1. Apply community engaged methods and advanced analytics to daily data to facilitate studying co-occurring posttraumatic stress symptoms and opioid use.