Comparatively preserved impulse control in late-onset opiate users
- PDF / 198,232 Bytes
- 7 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 106 Downloads / 174 Views
ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
Comparatively preserved impulse control in late-onset opiate users F. Passetti & A. Verdejo-Garcia & M. Abou-Saleh
Received: 26 September 2012 / Accepted: 4 June 2013 # Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2013
Abstract Rationale A substantial literature indicates that in alcohol addiction aspects of impulsive decision-making are typical of individuals with an early onset of addictive behaviour problems. It is not known whether the same applies to opiate addiction, and this insight has important theoretical and clinical implications. Objectives This study aims to examine the relationship between age at onset of addictive behaviour problems and decision-making in opiate addiction. Methods Ninety-three opiate-dependent, treatment-seeking individuals were divided in three groups, early, late and intermediate onset of problems, and completed impulsivity questionnaires and delay discounting and gambling tasks. Results Individuals with a late onset of opiate problems (25years or above) had lower delay discounting rates than individuals with early (18 years or less) or intermediate onset. There were no differences in performance on the gambling tasks. Late-onset individuals were older and had shorter drug histories, but there was no relationship between either age or length of exposure to opiates and delay discounting rates. Conclusions In keeping with previous studies in alcohol addiction, these findings support the notion of at least two distinct subgroups of opiate-dependent individuals, characterised by a different onset of problems, different
F. Passetti : M. Abou-Saleh Division of Mental Health, St George’s University of London, London, UK A. Verdejo-Garcia School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, Clayton Campus, Melbourne, Victoria 3800, Australia F. Passetti (*) Department of Psychiatry, University of Cambridge, Herchel Smith Building, Forvie Site, Cambridge CB2 0SZ, UK e-mail: [email protected]
propensity to impulsive behaviour and perhaps distinct mechanisms leading to addiction. Keywords Opiate . Onset . Impulsivity . Discounting
Introduction Impulsivity is not a unitary concept and it comprises several components (Gerbing et al. 1987), including for example motor impulsivity, reflection impulsivity and high delay discounting. Several of these aspects of impulsivity have been associated with substance use disorders (Fillmore and Rush 2002; Kirby and Petry 2004; Monterosso et al. 2005; Clark et al. 2006; Verdejo-Garcia et al. 2006). Whether these impairments reflect premorbid traits, the effect of psychotropic substances on brain function or an interaction between the two remains to be established. For example, research looking at the origins of substance abuse problems in childhood has supported the argument that impulsivity is an important etiological factor for addiction and chronologically predates it (e.g. Audrain-McGovern et al. 2009; Norman et al. 2011). On the other hand, evidence from studies looking at correlations between measures of impulsivity and the length or
Data Loading...
