Developing a Health Behavior Change Intervention: Final Project Part I—Introduction & Needs Assessment

Final Project Topic Selection

Margaret Johnson

Walden University

Opioid usage is a growing problem in the United States among adults. My target population will be adults that suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). There are about 46% individuals with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) that meet current diagnostic criteria for a comorbid substance use disorder (SUD; Pietrzak, Goldstein, Southwick, & Grant, 2011). Individuals with PTSD may be at risk for opioid misuse, given that stress enhances the rewarding properties of opioids and exacerbates the aversive effects of opioid withdrawal (Logrip, Zorrilla, & Koob, 2012).

Reference

Logrip, M. L., Zorrilla, E. P., & Koob, G. F. (2012). Stress modulation of drug self‐administration: Implications for addiction comorbidity with post‐traumatic stress disorder. Neuropharmacology, 62, 552–564. https://doi-org.ezp.waldenulibrary.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2011.07.007

Pietrzak, R. H., Goldstein, R. B., Southwick, S. M., & Grant, B. F. (2011). Prevalence and Axis, I comorbidity of full and partial posttraumatic stress disorder in the United States: Results from Wave 2 of the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions. Journal of Anxiety Disorders, 25, 456–465. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2010.11.010