Background: Although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) often co-occurs with depression and alcohol use disorder (AUD), treatment settings may not screen for PTSD symptoms.
Aims: To explore the effects of PTSD symptoms in participants seeking treatment for depression and alcohol misuse by capitalising on the DAISI (Depression and Alcohol Integrated and Single focussed Interventions) project.
Methods: Participants (N = 220) with current depressive symptoms and alcohol misuse were recruited from the DAISI project, a randomised controlled trial with four treatment arms. PTSD symptoms were assessed at baseline by the Posttraumatic Stress Diagnostic Scale and again at the 3-month assessment.
Results: McNemars t-test assessed for changes in PTSD symptom severity and PTSD symptom clusters at the 3-month assessment. Repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance assessed for changes in PTSD symptoms, by DAISI treatment allocation. At the 3-month assessment, participants with PTSD reported significant reductions in PTSD symptoms (except intrusion) and a lower rate of PTSD, and responded better to integrated depression-alcohol misuse CBT than to the alcohol/depression single-focussed or brief interventions.
Conclusion: Integrated depression and alcohol misuse CBT may be effective for PTSD symptoms, but intrusions may need to be addressed specifically.
Keywords: Alcohol; PTSD; cognitive behaviour therapy; depression.