Substance use disorders (SUD) commonly co-occur with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, and the comorbidity is prevalent and difficult-to-treat. Few studies have objectively analyzed language use in psychotherapy as a predictor of treatment outcomes. We conducted a secondary analysis of patient language use during cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) in a randomized clinical trial, comparing a novel, integrated CBT for PTSD/SUD with standard CBT for SUD. Participants included 37 treatment-seeking, predominantly African-American adults with SUD and at least four symptoms of PTSD. We analyzed transcripts of a single, matched session across both treatment conditions, using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count (LIWC) program. The program measures language use across multiple categories. Compared to standard CBT for SUD, patients in the novel, integrated CBT for PTSD/SUD used more negative emotion words, partially consistent with our hypothesis, but less positive emotion words. Further, exploratory analyses indicated an association between usage of cognitive processing words and clinician-observed reduction in PTSD symptoms, regardless of treatment condition. Our results suggest that language use during therapy may provide a window into mechanisms active in therapy.

中文翻译：

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认知行为治疗中语言使用的客观分析：与同时发生物质使用障碍和创伤后压力的成人症状变化的关联

物质使用障碍 (SUD) 通常与创伤后应激障碍 (PTSD) 症状同时发生，并且这种共病很普遍且难以治疗。很少有研究客观地分析心理治疗中的语言使用作为治疗结果的预测因素。我们在一项随机临床试验中对患者在认知行为治疗 (CBT) 期间的语言使用进行了二次分析，比较了针对 PTSD/SUD 的新型综合 CBT 与针对 SUD 的标准 CBT。参与者包括 37 名寻求治疗的，主要是非洲裔美国人，患有 SUD 和至少四种 PTSD 症状。我们使用语言查询和字数统计 (LIWC) 程序分析了两种治疗条件下单个匹配会话的成绩单。该计划衡量跨多个类别的语言使用情况。与 SUD 的标准 CBT 相比，在小说中，针对 PTSD/SUD 的综合 CBT 中的患者使用了更多的负面情绪词，部分符合我们的假设，但更少的积极情绪词。此外，探索性分析表明，无论治疗条件如何，认知处理词的使用与临床医生观察到的 PTSD 症状减少之间存在关联。我们的研究结果表明，治疗期间的语言使用可能为了解治疗中的活跃机制提供了一个窗口。