Citation

Kriegler J, Wegener S, Richter F, Scherbaum N, Brand M, Wegmann E. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2019; 205: e107593.

Affiliation

General Psychology: Cognition and Center for Behavioral Addiction Research (CeBAR), University of Duisburg-Essen, Forsthausweg 2, 47057 Duisburg, Germany. Electronic address: elisa.wegmann@uni-due.de.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2019.107593

PMID

31634665

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Individuals with heroin addiction are prone to dysfunctional decision-making. They frequently choose the short-term rewarding option of drug intake despite experiencing long-term negative consequences. Opioid maintenance treatment (OMT) is the most common treatment of heroin addiction.

METHODS: In this study, 38 individuals in an early stage of abstinence from heroin addiction (ESA-HA individuals) at the end of inpatient detoxification treatment and 41 individuals in long-term OMT were examined. Decision-making was assessed by (I) a modified version of the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) with drug-related stimuli focusing on decision-making under ambiguity and (II) the Game of Dice Task (GDT) assessing decision-making under objective risk.

RESULTS: OMT-individuals showed significantly better performance in the IGT than the ESA-HA-individuals. They also showed significantly less craving under exposure of drug-related pictures. In the GDT, OMT-individuals showed significantly less risky decision-making than ESA-HA-individuals.

CONCLUSION: The results suggest that patients receiving OMT show better functional decision-making and lower craving reactions. It could be assumed that the effectiveness of OMT in preventing relapse is linked to better decision-making and lower craving among these patients.

Copyright © 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Language: en

Keywords

Decision making; Game of dice task; Iowa gambling task; Methadone maintenance treatment; Opioid dependence; Opioid maintenance treatment