Prediction of Addiction Relapse Based on Perceived Social Support and Childhood Trauma

Background

The adverse effects of addiction relapse have always been major challenges in addiction treatment. Perceived social support and childhood trauma are determinants of drug addiction and relapse prevention. The current study aimed to predict drug addiction relapse based on perceived social support and childhood trauma in drug addiction treatment centers in Qom, Iran.

Methods

The present study examined 320 individuals, who visited drug addiction treatment centers in Qom, Iran and were selected using the purposive sampling method. The data collection tools included a demographic information questionnaire, the Social Support Scale, the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire-Short Form (CTQ-SF), and the Addiction Relapse Frequency Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 20 and independent t-tests, analysis of variance (ANOVA), Pearson test, and multivariate regression.

Findings

The research results indicated that 49.4% (n=158) of cases used opium. The results of multivariate regression of the factors related to addiction relapse indicated that the childhood trauma score had a significant effect on the relapse of more than 3 times in a way that childhood trauma increased the relapse rate of more than 3 times by 13%, but social support caused a significant reduction in the relapse rate of more than 3 times.

Conclusion

The research findings indicated that addiction relapse had a significant relationship with childhood trauma and perceived social support. The results can be a guide for future studies to expand psychological knowledge about the determinants of the treatment and prevention of addiction relapse and help to develop psychological explanations of this disorder.

Behavioral and Brain Reactivity Associated With Drug-Related and Non-Drug-Related Emotional Stimuli in Methamphetamine Addicts

Background

Methamphetamine addicts can experience severe emotional processing disorders, with abnormal responses to emotional and drug-related stimuli. These aberrant behaviors are one of the key factors leading to relapse. Nevertheless, the characteristics of addicts’ responses to drug-related stimuli and their responses to emotional stimuli remain controversial.

Methods

52 methamphetamine addicts from China passively viewed three different categories of images: Drug-related; positive emotional; and negative emotional. In the first task, participants completed a 9-point Self-Assessment Manikin (SAM) scale, rating the valence of each image. In the second, they performed a cued-action task while electroencephalography (EEG) data were recorded.

Result

Drug-related images were rated negatively, with an average rating of 3.57. However, reaction times to drug-related stimuli were significantly faster than for negative stimuli (p = 0.030), and were indistinguishable from positive stimuli (p > 0.99). Similarly, EPN amplitudes evoked by drug-related images were significantly larger than those evoked by negative stimuli (p < 0.001), but no different than positive stimuli (p > 0.99). LPP amplitudes evoked by drug-related stimuli were significantly smaller than those evoked by negative (p < 0.001) and positive stimuli (p = 0.004).

Conclusion

Despite negative self-assessments of drug-related imagery, MA-addicts reaction times were no slower than positive reactions. Similarly, drug-related and positive imagery EPN amplitudes were indistinguishable. Together, these results suggest increased attentional resources were allocated to the processing of drug-related stimuli and the pathways responsible partially overlap with the those recruited in processing positive emotional imagery in addicts. Moreover, in the late stage of visual processing, MA-addicts showed reduced brain activity in response to drug-related stimuli, suggesting reverse inhibition in response preparation and emotional appraisal. These findings may provide a reference for clinicians treating drug-taking behavior and for the development of new models of rehabilitation therapy.

Suicide Attempts and Perceived Social Support among Chinese Drug Users: The Mediating Role of Self-Esteem and Depression

Suicidal behavior is a severe problem among drug users. This study examines influential factors related to suicide attempts and analyzes possible mediators of the relationship between perceived social support and suicide attempts amongst Chinese drug users under compulsory institutional drug treatment. Taking perceived social support as the independent variable, we found that the relationship between suicide attempts and perceived social support is mediated by self-esteem as a protective factor and depression as a risk factor. Path analysis shows that self-esteem contributes relatively more to the indirect effects than depression does, accounting for 31.1% and 24.2% of the total effect, respectively. Generally speaking, the findings of this study point to an urgent need for addressing suicide attempts among Chinese drug users while treating self-esteem as the protective factor that deserves as substantial attention as depression receives.

Do Social Bonds Matter? Social Control Theory and Its Relationship to Desistance From Substance Abuse in China

This study examines the effects of social bonds on drug users’ desistance from substance abuse, with a special focus on testing the applicability of social control theory in the context of China. Using data from a sample of 419 Chinese drug users, this study reveals salient influences of such bonding variables as familial attachment, involvement, belief, and parenthood on drug users’ confidence and efforts in achieving abstinence, providing some support for the arguments of social control theory. Given the limitations of institutional response in dealing with substance abuse issues, these findings have important policy implications for the direction of efforts to encourage desistance-related behavior among substance abusers.