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Frontal systems related symptoms in cocaine dependent patients with comorbid personality disorders

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Abstract

Rationale

The co-occurrence of cocaine dependence and personality disorders may contribute to frontal systems-related behavioral symptoms in cocaine users.

Objective

This study aims to characterize apathy, disinhibition, and dysexecutive symptoms in cocaine users with comorbid personality disorders.

Methods

Thirty-nine participants meeting criteria for cocaine dependence and personality disorders, 35 participants meeting criteria for cocaine dependence without comorbidities, and 29 controls matched for age, education, and IQ completed the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe), which provides present and retrospective assessments (of the period preceding cocaine use) about apathy, disinhibition, and dysexecutive symptoms. Additionally, relatives of cocaine patients (34 relatives from comorbid patients and 31 relatives from noncomorbid patients) completed the informant version of the FrSBe. We used one-way ANOVAs to investigate present-moment differences between the groups and related samples t tests to quantify changes between pre-disorder and present-moment symptoms.

Results

Cocaine users with personality disorders self-reported higher present-moment apathy and disinhibition symptoms than noncomorbid users and controls. Informant ratings showed that comorbid users exhibited pre-disorder elevations in apathy, disinhibition and dysexecutive symptoms, and that these symptoms did not significantly change between the pre-disorder and the present-moment assessments. In contrast, noncomorbid users exhibited increased apathy, disinhibition, and dysexecutive symptoms at present-moment compared with pre-disorder measures.

Conclusions

The co-occurrence of cocaine dependence and personality disorders is associated with elevated frontal systems-related behavioral symptoms. Comorbid and noncomorbid users differ in frontal symptoms’ trajectories, with the former showing pre-disorder stable elevations and the latter showing lower baseline symptoms but greater addiction-related elevations.

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Acknowledgments

This study was funded by the Grant COPERNICO from the Plan Nacional sobre Drogas-Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo (Convocatoria 2009) and the “Red de Trastornos Adictivos” from the RETICS Program of the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Ministerio de Sanidad.

Conflict of interest

No conflict declared.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Natalia Albein-Urios & Antonio Verdejo-Garcia

  2. Centro Provincial de Drogodependencias, Diputación de Granada, Granada, Spain

    José Miguel Martínez-González

  3. Department of Psychology, University of Huelva, Huelva, Spain

    Óscar Lozano

  4. Institute of Neurosciences Federico Olóriz, University of Granada, Granada, Spain

    Antonio Verdejo-Garcia

  5. School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Monash University, 3800 Wellington Rd. Clayton (VIC), Victoria, Australia

    Antonio Verdejo-Garcia

Authors
  1. Natalia Albein-Urios
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  2. José Miguel Martínez-González
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  3. Óscar Lozano
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  4. Antonio Verdejo-Garcia
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio Verdejo-Garcia.

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Albein-Urios, N., Martínez-González, J.M., Lozano, Ó. et al. Frontal systems related symptoms in cocaine dependent patients with comorbid personality disorders. Psychopharmacology 228, 367–373 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3040-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-013-3040-x

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