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An experimental study of aggressive and neutral interpretative bias in opiate-dependent and opiate-abstinent men

Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK

L Martin

Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK

AJ Bond

National Addiction Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London, UK

D O’Ryan

Substance Misuse Services, Camden & Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust, Margarete Centre, London, UK

P Davis

Substance Misuse Services, Camden & Islington Mental Health and Social Care Trust, Margarete Centre, London, UK

HV Curran

Clinical Psychopharmacology Unit, University College London, London, UK

Abstract

There is a paucity of research on the relationship between opiate use and aggression, and no previous study has examined this from a cognitive theoretical perspective, which views an individual’s interpretation of information as a central mediator of their response to it. This study aimed to determine whether opiate users and ex-users differed from opiate-naïve controls on a task which involved processing ambiguous sentences. In an independent group design, the interpretative bias task was administered to 64 participants: 21 opiate-dependent receiving methadone maintenance treatment, 21 opiate-abstinent in rehabilitation, and 22 healthy unemployed controls. We found that both opiate-dependent and opiate-abstinent groups interpreted ambiguous sentences in a neutral rather than an aggressive way, whereas controls showed no bias in either direction. In the opiate-dependent group, neutral interpretative bias correlated both with their current dose of methadone and years of methadone use. These findings indicate that current and ex-opiate users in treatment have a bias towards neutral interpretations of ambiguous information. The fact that neutral interpretative bias in opiate-dependent individuals correlated with current dose and years of methadone use suggests that methadone treatment is associated with a neutral cognitive bias. Decreased testosterone levels associated with chronic opiate use may underpin this neutral bias.

Key Words: aggression • cognition • cognitive bias • interpretative bias • opiate

This version was published on June 1, 2009

Journal of Psychopharmacology, Vol. 23, No. 4, 428-435 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0269881108091880


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