Substance use comorbidity and PD predicted remission across most substances assessed. Individuals with a diagnosis of a PD had a lower probability of remission from alcohol or cannabis dependence. Converging evidence supports the commonalities between PD and SUDs [47]. For instance, there are high rates of comorbidity between PD with high impulsivity traits (e.g., borderline PD) and SUD. Individuals with PD with high levels of stress reactivity, neuroticism and anxiety sensitivity can engage use substances to relieve their feelings. Novelty-seeking, reward-seeking, extraversion and gregariousness can also motivate drug use experimentation and sustained drug intake [47]. Associations between polymorphisms at candidate genes and personality dimensions correlated with the liability to SUD have also been documented [48]. A temporal relation in this association has been noted, with PD anteceding the onset of SUD [47]. The chronic course of PD [49] may increase the risk for relapse and interfere with psychological and social factors that help motivate remission [47]. The lack of association between previous diagnosis of mood and anxiety disorders and dependence remission observed in this study has been documented before [50].
