Our findings that PTSD accounted for only a proportion of the TE effect on AD and ND are consistent with studies showing an effect of TE alone on AUDs (8) and ND (12) and those showing that PTSD partially accounts for associations between TE and substance use (21–23). Our finding that MD was associated with PTSD but not TE corroborates research revealing that PTSD alone is associated with drug use disorders (24), although we examined MD specifically rather than any drug use disorder more generally. Together, results add to the literature by examining dependence on three different substances within a single population-based study of men and women; findings highlight the need to examine substance-specific SUDs separately rather than examining any SUD (19), as combining SUDs may mask differences in their relationships with risk factors.
