This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (3) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Hoshi, R. Articles by Curran, H. V. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hoshi, R. Articles by Curran, H. V. Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

An investigation into the sub-acute effects of ecstasy on aggressive interpretative bias and aggressive mood – are there gender differences?

Hannah Pratt

Sachin Mehta

Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK

Alyson J. Bond

National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, London, UK

H. Valerie Curran

Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK

The lowering of serotonin for a period following MDMA use could account for the increases in both self-rated and objective measures of aggression previously found in ecstasy users several days after taking the drug. There is some evidence of gender differences in the acute, sub-acute and long-term effects of MDMA use, and given that gender differences have been found in aggression, it is possible that men may experience more aggression mid-week than women.

The aim of this study was to attempt to replicate .ndings showing increased bias towards aggressive material in ecstasy users several days after using the drug. In addition, to investigate possible gender differences in mid-week aggression.

A total of 46 participants were tested: 19 ecstasy users and 27 controls were compared on the night of drug use and 4 days later. On day 4, a task designed to tap cognitive bias toward material with aggressive content was administered. Participants were required to process sentences that could be interpreted as either aggressive or neutral and subsequently remember them in a recognition test. This data set was then combined with the data from Curran et al.'s (2004) study that employed exactly the same procedure. Thus, the data from 107 participants was analysed to investigate gender differences.

Ecstasy users recognized more aggressive sentences than controls and tended to react slower to neutral sentences than controls. Ecstasy users also rated themselves as being more aggressive and depressed than controls on day 4. No gender differences were found on any measure of aggression in the combined data set.

Both male and female ecstasy users show a bias toward interpretation of ambiguous material in an aggressive manner when compared to controls 4 days after ecstasy use.

Key Words: ecstasy • MDMA • gender • aggression • interpretative bias • cognitive bias

Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 20, No. 2, 291-301 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881106060505


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				J Clair, L Martin, A. Bond, D O'Ryan, P Davis, and H. Curran An experimental study of aggressive and neutral interpretative bias in opiate-dependent and opiate-abstinent men J Psychopharmacol, June 1, 2009; 23(4): 428 - 435. [Abstract] [PDF]

				A. C. Parrott Ecstasy versus alcohol: Tolstoy and the variations of unhappiness J Psychopharmacol, January 1, 2007; 21(1): 3 - 6. [PDF]