Pain Severity and Alcohol Use Among Daily Tobacco Cigarette Smokers

Abstract

Background and Objectives Pain is associated with hazardous alcohol use. Drinkers have reported using alcohol for pain‐coping, and negative affect may be a key mechanism in pain‐induced motivation to drink. However, no previous study has examined pain severity in relation to alcohol consumption, dependence, and alcohol‐related consequences. Moreover, no studies have examined pain‐alcohol interrelations among tobacco cigarette smokers. These secondary analyses tested the hypotheses that greater past 4‐week pain severity would be positively associated with indices of hazardous drinking (ie, quantity/frequency, harmful use, and dependence), and that the current pain intensity would be positively/indirectly associated with the urge to drink via negative affect. Methods Participants included 225 daily smokers (43% female; MCPD = 22) who completed the baseline session for a larger experimental study. Results Every one‐point increase in pain severity was associated with a 47% increased likelihood of hazardous drinking, and pain severity was positively associated with quantity/frequency of alcohol consumption, harmful patterns of drinking, and alcohol dependence level (Ps < .05). Pain intensity was indirectly associated with urge to drink via negative affect (P < .05). Conclusions These findings provide initial evidence that smokers with greater pain severity may also report hazardous patterns of alcohol use. Scientific Significance This is the first study to demonstrate that past 4‐week pain severity may be one factor that maintains three conceptually distinct patterns of hazardous drinking among smokers. The current results also provide the first evidence that greater pain intensity may be associated with an increased urge to drink alcohol, via negative affect. (Am J Addict 2020;29:134–140)

Prevalence and influencing factors of chronic pain in middle-aged and older adults in China: results of a nationally representative survey

“…On the health behavior aspect, this survey study suggests that middle-aged and older adults who smoke and drink alcohol are more likely to experience physical pain, this finding is identical to the previous studies ( 22 , 23 ). Furthermore, this finding from current study is consistent with the results of a cross-sectional study of 10,000 people in the general working population, indicating that smoking is associated with a higher risk of musculoskeletal pain ( 24 ).…”

Cognitive-Affective Transdiagnostic Factors Associated With Vulnerability to Alcohol and Prescription Opioid Use in the Context of Pain

“… 6 With regard to alcohol use, individuals with chronic pain endorse higher rates of hazardous drinking and are up to two times more likely than the general population to meet criteria for AUD. 6 , 39 , 43 Greater levels of pain severity 44 and functional interference have been associated with an increased likelihood of engaging in hazardous drinking patterns and meeting diagnostic criteria for AUD, 45 respectively. Pain also appears to be more common among individuals who report hazardous alcohol use: 43% of people who experience drinking problems (e.g., adverse consequences or life problems as a result of drinking) and 75% of individuals with AUD have been shown to endorse current moderate to severe pain (vs. 18% in the general population).…”