ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the effect of state anxiety and trait anxiety on attentional orienting of heroin addicts. Methods State anxiety and trait anxiety was measured by State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI). Forty heroin ad?dicts (36 males and 4 females) and 40 healthy controls (36 males and 4 females) participated in cue-target task. Atten?tional orienting and reorienting were measured in valid cue trials and invalid cue trails. Results Heroin addicts had sig?nificantly greater state anxiety [(42.65 ± 6.58) vs. (36.60 ± 8.91)] and trait anxiety [(44.43 ± 7.67) vs. (37.00 ± 8.63)] values than controls (P<0.05). The state anxiety was significantly correlated with orientation RT difference (r=-0.259, P=0.020) and disengaging/reorientation RT difference (r=0.333, P=0.003) in heroin addicts. Trait anxiety was also significantly cor?related with orientation RT difference (r=-0.248, P=0.026) and disengaging/reorientation RT difference (r=0.356, P=0.001) in heroin addicts. Conclusion Heroin addicts have significantly greater anxiety than healthy controls. Both their state anxiety and trait anxiety are associated with attentional orienting and disengaging/reorienting.