TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2009//
TI  - An experimental study of aggressive and neutral interpretative bias in opiate-dependent and opiate-abstinent men
JO  - Journal of psychopharmacology
A1  - Clair, J.
A1  - Martin, L.
A1  - Bond, Alyson J.
A1  - O'Ryan, D.
A1  - Davis, P.
A1  - Curran, H. Valerie
SP  - 428
EP  - 435
VL  - 23
IS  - 4
N2  - 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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0269-8811
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0269881108091880
ID  - ref1
ER  -