OBJECTIVES:: This study examined the relationship between mental health symptoms and the use of tobacco and caffeinated beverages during and just before a counseling session in a population of adult polysubstance abusers.
METHODS:: The participants were all polysubstance users in substance abuse treatment. The participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory II and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory immediately after a treatment episode. They also reported whether or not they had drunk a caffeinated beverage or smoked a cigarette just before or during that treatment episode.
RESULTS:: Coffee drinkers scored significantly higher (mean = 20.3) on the Beck Depression Inventory II than did noncoffee drinkers (mean = 9.2). The differences between these groups on the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were nonsignificant. There was no relationship between other caffeinated beverages or tobacco use and depression or anxiety.
CONCLUSIONS:: Caffeine use is associated with depression in adult polysubstance abusers. Implications for using coffee drinking as a predictor of depression in substance abuse treatment settings are discussed.