Role of Age of Diagnosis, Self-Efficacy and Social Support in the Relationship between Bipolar Disorder and Substance Use Severity

Bipolar disorder is one of the 10 most disabling conditions in the world. As such, inpatient hospitalization for individuals with bipolar disorder is far greater than hospitalization rates for all other patients with behavioral health diagnoses. Bipolar disorder is also associated with reduced lifespans of 9.2 years, and 1 in 5 individuals with bipolar disorder die by suicide. Such statistics are alarming and illuminate the impact of bipolar disorder on functioning and overall quality of life. However, the constructs of self-efficacy, social support, and age of onset may impact and lead to a decrease in substance use severity (i.e., alcohol and illicit drug use) for individuals with a bipolar disorder diagnosis. A sample of 91 participants was recruited from bipolar disorder support group websites and blogs for people with bipolar disorder. Measures for the current study included the bMAST, DAST-10, GSE, and SSA-S. Research questions included (1) Are self-efficacy, age of onset, and social support related to alcohol use severity for individuals with bipolar disorder? (2) Are self-efficacy, age of onset, and social support related to illicit drug use severity for individuals with bipolar disorder? Statistical analyses for the variables included two hierarchical multiple linear regressions. Due to violated assumptions for multiple linear regressions, a non-parametric analysis was run separately for each research question. No significant results were indicated for the research questions included in the study. For both ordinal logistic regressions, the models with all predictors (age of onset, self-efficacy, and social support) did not significantly improve compared to the intercept only models. Results of this study were discussed related to improvement for future research and implications for future practice.