Evaluation of attention bias in morphine and methamphetamine abusers towards emotional scenes during early abstinence: an eye-tracking study

Introduction: We hypothesized that inappropriate attention during the period of abstinence in individuals with substance use disorder can result in an inadequate perception of emotion and unsuitable reaction to emotional scenes. The main aim of this research was to evaluate the attentional bias towards emotional images in former substance abusers and compare it to healthy adults

Methods: Paired images of general scenes consisting of pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral images were presented to subjects for 3 s while their attentional bias and eye movements were measured by eye tracking. The participants were 72 male adults consisting of 23 healthy control, 24 morphine former abusers, and 25 methamphetamine former abusers. The former abusers were recruited from a private addiction quitting center and addiction rehabilitation campus. The healthy individuals were selected from general population. Number and duration of first fixation, duration of first gaze, and sustained attention towards emotional scenes were measured as the main variables and the data were analyzed using the repeated measures ANOVA

Results: A significant difference was observed between former morphine abusers and healthy control in terms of number and duration of first fixations and first gaze duration towards pleasant images

Discussion: Individuals with morphine use disorder have more problems with attending to emotional images compared to methamphetamine abusers and healthy people

[Health-related quality of life in irritable bowel syndrome]

Due to the increasing outbreak of irritable bowel syndrome [IBS] and its relation to hospital costs and disruptions to quality of life, this study is an attempt to investigate patient quality of life and its relationship with IBS according to the results of the WHQOL-BREF Questionnaire. This descriptive-analytic, cross-sectional study enrolled 250 patients and 250 healthy participants who referred to the Gastroenterology Clinic of Sina Hospital, affiliated with Tehran University of Medical Sciences during 2012. The diagnosis of IBS was determined by a gastrointestinal expert based on ROME-III Criteria. Then, the study was explained to participants prior to administration of this questionnaire. The level of life quality in patients with IBS was less than the control group. There was no significant difference between groups in terms of age, gender, education level, marital status, and place of residency. There was no significant difference in the above factors among patients in the subgroups of IBS. Regression analysis between quality of life and independent variables showed a correlation between quality of life to severity of IBS symptoms and disease duration. The results of the study indicated that quality of life correlated with severity of symptoms and disease duration. The quality of life in IBS patients can be enhanced by efficiently controlling symptoms.

Normative data and psychometric properties of the child behavior checklist and teacher rating form in an Iranian community sample

The objective of this study was to determine the normative data and psychometric properties of the parent and teacher rating form of the child behavior checklist [CBCL] in an Iranian community sample. A sample of 6-12 year old students was randomly selected from ten elementary schools in Tehran, Iran. The parent's and teacher's versions of CBCL were accomplished. Clinical interview and the kiddie schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia - present and lifetime version, Persian version [K-SADS-PL-PV] were used to evaluate the validity and the cut-off point of CBCL and the teacher rating form [TRF]. Among 600 recruited students with mean age of 9.11 years [SD=1.45], 54.16% were girls [n=325]. Girls had significantly lower scores in Attention Problems, Delinquent Behavior, Aggressive Behavior, Externalizing and Total Problems than boys [P<0.01]. The relation was significant between the CBCL Internalizing and students' ages [beta =0.124, P=0.002]. The Internal consistency, the correlation among the CBCL and TRF scales, and the inter-rater correlations for CBCL/TRF scales were good to high for most indices and subscales. Based on the receiver operating characteristics [ROC] analysis the best convergences were between the CBCL Attention Problems subscale and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder [ADHD] diagnosis, the CBCL Total Problems and any disorders, the CBCL Externalizing and ADHD+ODD diagnosis. The sensitivities and specificities of the CBCL subscales were higher than the TRF except for Externalizing/ADHD+ oppositional defiant disorder [ODD] which was reverse. These results support the multicultural CBCL/TRF findings. CBCL is a useful instrument to consider ADHD and any disorders in community samples

Initial orientation of attention towards emotional faces in children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder

Early recognition of negative emotions is considered to be of vital importance. It seems that children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder have some difficulties recognizing facial emotional expressions, especially negative ones. This study investigated the preference of children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder for negative [angry, sad] facial expressions compared to normal children. Participants were 35 drug naive boys with ADHD, aged between 6-11 years, and 31 matched healthy children. Visual orientation data were recorded while participants viewed face pairs [negative-neutral pairs] shown for 3000ms. The number of first fixations made to each expression was considered as an index of initial orientation. Group comparisons revealed no difference between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder group and their matched healthy counterparts in initial orientation of attention. A tendency towards negative emotions was found within the normal group, while no difference was observed between initial allocation of attention toward negative and neutral expressions in children with ADHD. Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder do not have significant preference for negative facial expressions. In contrast, normal children have a significant preference for negative facial emotions rather than neutral faces

Evaluation of estimating missed answers in Conners adult ADHD rating scale [screening version]

Conners Adult ADHD Rating Scale [CAARS] is among the valid questionnaires for evaluating Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder in adults. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the validity of the estimation of missed answers in scoring the screening version of the Conners questionnaire, and to extract its principal components. This study was performed on 400 participants. Answer estimation was calculated for each question [assuming the answer was missed], and then a Kruskal-Wallis test was performed to evaluate the difference between the original answer and its estimation. In the next step, principal components of the questionnaire were extracted by means of Principal Component Analysis [PCA]. Finally the evaluation of differences in the whole groups was provided using the Multiple Comparison Procedure [MCP]. Findings indicated that a significant difference existed between the original and estimated answers for some particular questions. However, the results of MCP showed that this estimation, when evaluated in the whole group, did not show a significant difference with the original value in neither of the questionnaire subscales. The results of PCA revealed that there are eight principal components in the CAARS questionnaire. The obtained results can emphasize the fact that this questionnaire is mainly designed for screening purposes, and this estimation does not change the results of groups when a question is missed randomly. Notwithstanding this finding, more considerations should be paid when the missed question is a critical one