Gender-specific effects of comorbid depression and anxiety on the propensity to drink in negative emotional states.

Background And Aims: Depression and anxiety are often comorbid with alcoholism and contribute to craving and relapse. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of life-time diagnoses of major depressive disorder (MDD), substance-induced depression (SID), anxiety disorder (AnxD) and substance-induced anxiety (SIA), the effects of these comorbidities on the propensity to drink in negative emotional states (negative craving), and test whether these effects differ by sex.

Design: Secondary analyses of baseline data collected in a single-arm study of pharmacogenetic predictors of acamprosate response.