Abstract

Background: Alcohol dependence syndrome (ADS) frequently co-occurs with depression, anxiety, and stress, yet predictors in low-resource settings remain underexplored. Objectives: To compare psychological distress between ADS patients and controls, and identify demographic, clinical, and alcohol-related predictors. Methods: In this case-control study, 162 male ADS patients and 162 age and sex-matched controls were included, with their informed consent. Patients were admitted to the Psychiatry ward of a tertiary care hospital. A self-made sociodemographic data sheet, the MAST, the HDBQ, and the DASS were administered to all subjects. The Depression, Anxiety, and Stress scale was administered to the alcohol dependent patients after two weeks of abstinence in the hospital. Statistical analyses were performed using the t-test, chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test, Spearman’s correlation, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: ADS patients had significantly higher scores on anxiety (12.43±3.34 vs. 6.04±2.35, p<0.001), depression (11.96±3.88 vs. 5.57±2.20, p<0.001), and stress (14.01±3.77 vs. 6.35±3.02, p<0.001) than the normal control group. Regression identified stress, anxiety, duration, age, marital status, HDBQ, and FHADS as depression predictors. Depression, age, stress, MAST scores, and education were the positive predictors of anxiety. Depression and anxiety were positive predictors, while duration was a significant negative predictor of stress.Conclusion: Alcohol dependence is associated with significantly higher levels of anxiety, depression, and stress compared to normal control subjects. Prolonged ADS duration and genetic loading predict distress, urging integrated screening in India.

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