Beyond the tip of the iceberg: A narrative review to identify research gaps on comorbid psychiatric disorders in adolescents with methamphetamine use disorder or chronic methamphetamine use


Journal article


Sören Kuitunen-Paul, Veit Roessner, Lukas A. Basedow, Yulia Golub
Substance Abuse, vol. 42, 2021, pp. 13--32


Cite

Cite

APA   Click to copy
Kuitunen-Paul, S., Roessner, V., Basedow, L. A., & Golub, Y. (2021). Beyond the tip of the iceberg: A narrative review to identify research gaps on comorbid psychiatric disorders in adolescents with methamphetamine use disorder or chronic methamphetamine use. Substance Abuse, 42, 13–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/08897077.2020.1806183


Chicago/Turabian   Click to copy
Kuitunen-Paul, Sören, Veit Roessner, Lukas A. Basedow, and Yulia Golub. “Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg: A Narrative Review to Identify Research Gaps on Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders in Adolescents with Methamphetamine Use Disorder or Chronic Methamphetamine Use.” Substance Abuse 42 (2021): 13–32.


MLA   Click to copy
Kuitunen-Paul, Sören, et al. “Beyond the Tip of the Iceberg: A Narrative Review to Identify Research Gaps on Comorbid Psychiatric Disorders in Adolescents with Methamphetamine Use Disorder or Chronic Methamphetamine Use.” Substance Abuse, vol. 42, 2021, pp. 13–32, doi:10.1080/08897077.2020.1806183.


BibTeX   Click to copy

@article{kuitunen-paul2021a,
  title = {Beyond the tip of the iceberg: A narrative review to identify research gaps on comorbid psychiatric disorders in adolescents with methamphetamine use disorder or chronic methamphetamine use},
  year = {2021},
  journal = {Substance Abuse},
  pages = {13--32},
  volume = {42},
  doi = {10.1080/08897077.2020.1806183},
  author = {Kuitunen-Paul, Sören and Roessner, Veit and Basedow, Lukas A. and Golub, Yulia}
}

ABSTRACT
Background:
Methamphetamine use disorder (MUD) frequently begins in adolescence, often accompanied by other psychiatric or mental disorders. Up to now, no comprehensive review about MUD and comorbid disorders in adolescents is available. We thus aimed to review the literature on comorbid mental disorders and MUD in adolescents in order to identify future research topics.

Method: A PubMed search was conducted in July 2019. Relevant comorbidities were defined as attention-deficit disorder with/without hyperactivity, anxiety disorders, depression, eating disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychosis, borderline personality disorder, conduct disorder and antisocial personality disorder, as well as other substance use disorders. For each comorbidity, we summarized prevalence rates, findings on comorbidity mechanisms, and recommended treatment options, if applicable.

Results: Few articles focused on MUD in adolescents. Prevalence rates differed largely between comorbid disorders, with tobacco use disorder, conduct disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorders, and attention-deficit disorders being the most prevalent comorbidities while eating disorders were rare. Examined onset patterns and comorbidity mechanisms indicated three groups of comorbidities: preexisting disorders self-medicated with methamphetamine, disorders induced by chronic methamphetamine use, and disorders arising due to risk factors shared with MUD. Reviewed comorbidities were frequently associated with worse treatment outcomes.

Conclusions: The limited evidence is in stark contrast to the presumably high prevalence and relevance of comorbid mental disorders in adolescents with MUD. Suggestions for future research topics, informed by adult findings, include genetic vulnerabilities, biological changes, and consequences of different use patterns. Surprisingly few MUD treatment programs explicitly integrate comorbid mental disorder modules.