Craving-induced effects of different drug cues on persons abstaining from heroin

Background: The key factors of inducing drug cravings in persons abstaining from drug use remain a focus of addictions research. Given the accumulating evidences, the scope of cues investigated in the cue-reactivity paradigm has increased considerably. Yet, few studies have examined the effects of the intensity and endurance of different types of cues on their ability to induce craving. This study investigated differences among drug-cue words, negative physiological-cue words, and negative social-cue words in the induction of drug cravings among persons abstaining from heroin.

Methods: The sample consisted of 149 male abstinent heroin abusers from four addiction rehabilitation centers in China. Based on their abstinence lengths, they were labeled as short-term, medium-term, and long-term abstainer participants respectively. All participants completed a stress-imagery task and rated craving by visual analog scale.

Results: There was a significant interaction of cue type and abstinence length. There was no difference on the craving induced by three types of cue words in the short-term group. In the medium-term group, craving induced by negative social-cue words was significantly stronger than that by negative physiological-cue words, but not that by drug-cue words. In the long-term group, the craving induced by negative social-cue words remained the strongest, significantly stronger than that by both drug-cue words and negative physiological-cue words.

Conclusion: Negative social-cue words presented in the current study retain the ability to induce craving in heroin abstainers; this finding suggests that negative social cues encountered under more general circumstances could be a risk factor for relapse.     

海洛因依赖性人格概念的建构及其与心理健康的关系

目的:了解海洛因依赖性人格的概念结构,建立海洛因依赖性人格量表。方法:对10 5名海洛因戒除者的海洛因依赖性人格问卷的测试数据进行验证性因素分析。结果:(1)海洛因依赖性人格由海洛因渴求感和戒除效能感两个维度构成,二维模型对样本数据的拟合度较好;(2 )海洛因渴求感α=0 .86 6 ,戒断效能感α=0 . 92 3,所有项目与所属因素因子分的相关系数在0. 6 81- 0 . 876之间,P <0 .0 0 1,两个分量表的相关系数r =- 0 4 4 2 ,P <0 . 0 0 1;(3)海洛因渴求感和戒除效能感与自尊、孤独、抑郁的相关系数的绝对值在0 . 2 2 1- 0. 5 11之间,达到显著性水平;回归分析的结果显示,戒断效能感可解释自尊、孤独和抑郁14 . 4 %、10 . 8%和2 6 . 2 %的变异。结论:海洛因依赖性人格的概念的构想合理,其量表具有良好的项目区分度、内部一致性信度和效度。     

米氮平对海洛因依赖者脱毒期及脱毒后焦虑抑郁及渴求的影响

目的:了解米氮平对海洛因依赖者脱毒期及脱毒后的焦虑抑郁及心理渴求影响的疗效.方法:对符合DSM-Ⅳ阿片类依赖诊断标准的患者在美沙酮(MTD)脱毒治疗时随机抽取50例MTD联合米氮平治疗(A组)和50例MTD加安慰剂治疗(B组),进行对比观察.使用HAMD,HAMA及心理渴求自评量表来评定两组病人治疗前后的焦虑抑郁及心理渴求的情况.结果:MTD联合米氮平治疗组较MTD联合安慰剂治疗组焦虑抑郁及心理渴求评分明显减少,且差异显著(P＜0.01).结论:米氮平可有效的减轻海洛因依赖者在脱毒期及脱毒后的焦虑抑郁及心理渴求.     

Pharmacological means of reducing human drug dependence: a selective and narrative review of the clinical literature

Substance abuse or addictive disorder is a global problem. A greater understanding of the associated changes in brain pathophysiology supports the notion that pharmacological treatments are part of the necessary treatment options. Craving is a core symptom of addictive disorder. It refers to a strong desire to use drugs again either to re-experience positive effects or to diminish negative experiences. Currently there are a number of medicines that are effective in the treatment of addictive disorders. These medications can either be for substitution (same pharmacological effect as the abused substance) or anticraving (decrease the craving of the abused substance). In this MEDLNE based review, specific compounds (naltrexone, acamprosate, topiramate, disulfiram, baclofen, N-acetylcysteine and bupropion) were selected that are known to diminish desire to use (anticraving effect) and that have been trialled for a number of different substance addictive disorders. Their therapeutic potential in clinical practice is discussed in light of their efficacy.     

Written Emotional Expression During Recovery From Cocaine Dependence: Group and Individual Differences in Craving Intensity

We conducted a prospective, single-blind, parallel group, controlled trial to evaluate effects of written emotional expression in patients receiving intensive treatment for cocaine dependence in a residential-unit setting. Randomization to the emotional expression treatment produced changes in blood pressure and mood during writing sessions, possibly because of its ability to stimulate active coping behavior. At an initial follow-up visit, patients that had received written emotional expression reported lower values for craving intensity and were less likely to self-report use of cocaine. These results may indicate a therapeutic effect of written emotional expression during recovery from cocaine dependence.     

How laboratory studies of cigarette craving can inform the experimental alcohol craving literature

Interest in alcohol and other drug craving has flourished over the past two decades, and evidence has accumulated showing that craving can be meaningfully linked to both drug use and relapse. Considerable human experimental alcohol craving research since 2000 has focused on craving as a clinical phenomenon. Self-reported craving to drink typically has served as a catch-all for the craving construct in these studies, whereas few studies have considered craving as a process (or hypothetical construct) that interacts with other phenomena to affect use. In contrast to alcohol, we believe that recently there has been more mechanistic work targeting cigarette craving–related processes. Here, we briefly present a narrative review of studies of acute alcohol craving in humans that have been conducted during the past two decades. We then specify important ways in which alcohol and tobacco differ (e.g., the role of withdrawal), and we note the unique challenges in inducing robust alcohol craving states in the laboratory. Finally, we offer recommendations for how the alcohol field might advance its conceptual understanding of craving by adopting ideas and methods drawn from the smoking research literature. Specifically, we suggest that researchers extend their studies to not only examine the link between alcohol craving and relapse but also to focus on why and, in some instances, how alcohol cravings matter clinically, and the circumstances under which craving especially matters. We propose research to investigate the shifts in alcohol-related cognitive and affective processing that occur during alcohol craving states. Furthermore, we highlight the value of research examining the level of insight that individuals with varying levels of alcohol involvement possess about their own craving-related processing shifts. We believe that laboratory studies can provide rich opportunities to examine conceptual questions about alcohol craving that are central to addiction.     

Pica during pregnancy among Mexican‐born women: a formative study

Although pica, the craving and purposive consumption of non‐food substances, is common among many populations, especially during pregnancy, the health consequences are not well understood. Further, very little is known about pica among Mexican populations in the United States and Mexico. Therefore, we conducted formative research to understand pica in this understudied population. Our objectives were to identify the frequency and types of pica behaviours, to understand perceived aetiologies and consequences of pica and to ascertain if the behaviour was common enough to warrant a larger study. We held nine focus group discussions (three in the Salinas Valley, California; six in Xoxocotla, Morelos, Mexico) with 76 Mexican‐born women who were currently pregnant or had delivered within the past 2 years. Earth, adobe, bean stones and ice were the most commonly reported pica substances. Twenty‐eight of the 76 participants (37%) reported ever engaging in pica; 22 participants (29%) reported doing so during pregnancy. The proportion of women reporting pica in the United States and Mexico was 43% and 34%, respectively. Women attributed pica to the overwhelming organoleptic appeal of pica substances (especially smell and texture) and to micronutrient deficiencies. Perceived consequences of unfulfilled pica cravings were birthmarks or fetal loss; fulfilled pica cravings were also thought to be generally harmful to the mother or child, with several women specifying toxic lead, pesticides or ‘worms’. In sum, pica among Mexican women is common enough to warrant a larger epidemiologic study of its sociodemographic correlates and physiological consequences.