Received 24 November 2008; received in revised form 8 January 2009; accepted 8 January 2009.
Abstract
Background
Much of the literature has described personality disorder constructs for heroin addicts. Building on previous work we examine the relevance of affective temperament measures in these patients.
Methods
59 consecutive stabilized methadone treated heroin addicts, 34 with and 25 without psychiatric comorbidity, were compared, regarding affective temperaments, according to the Akiskal and Mallya formulation, with 58 healthy volunteers sharing similar social and regional demographics.
Results
No differences were observed between heroin addicts and controls on either depressive or hyperthymic scales. Significant discrepancies were noted in cyclothymic and irritability scales, on which heroin addicts scored higher, regardless of the presence or absence of a dual diagnosis. In a multivariate discriminant analysis, mainly cyclothymic, and (to a lesser extent) irritable traits show a distinction between heroin addicts and controls, but not between heroin addicts with and without dual diagnoses.
Limitation
Cross-sectional study.
Conclusion
Our data suggest a new hypothesis. Cyclothymic, and to a lesser extent irritable traits (the “dark side”), could represent the temperamental profile of heroin addicts, largely irrespective of comorbidity, and tend to cohere with previous conceptualizations hypothesizing “sensation-seeking” (and “novelty-seeking”) as the main personality characteristics of addiction.
eDepartment of Psychiatry and Behavioural Science, New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York, USA
fUnion Nationale des Dépressifs et Maniaco-Dépressifs, Rouen, France
gInternational Mood Centre, La Jolla, California, USA
hUniversity of California at San Diego and Veterans Administration Hospital, San Diego, California, USA
Corresponding author. Vincent P. Dole, Dual Diagnosis Unit, Santa Chiara University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pisa, Via Roma, 67 56100 Pisa, Italy. Tel.: +39 0584 790073; fax: +39 0584 72081.
ABSTRACT