Computational modeling of decision-making in substance abusers: testing Bechara's hypotheses.

One of the cognitive abilities most affected by substance abuse is decision-making. Behavioral tasks such as the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) provide a means to measure the learning process involved in decision-making. To comprehend this process, three hypotheses have emerged: (1) participants prioritize gains over losses, (2) they exhibit insensitivity to losses, and (3) the capacity of operational storage or working memory comes into play. A dynamic model was developed to examine these hypotheses, simulating sensitivity to gains and losses. The Linear Operator model served as the learning rule, wherein net gains depend on the ratio of gains to losses, weighted by the sensitivity to both. The study further proposes a comparison between the performance of simulated agents and that of substance abusers (n = 20) and control adults (n = 20). The findings indicate that as the memory factor increases, along with high sensitivity to losses and low sensitivity to gains, agents prefer advantageous alternatives, particularly those with a lower frequency of punishments. Conversely, when sensitivity to gains increases and the memory factor decreases, agents prefer disadvantageous alternatives, especially those that result in larger losses. Human participants confirmed the agents' performance, particularly when contrasting optimal and sub-optimal outcomes. In conclusion, we emphasize the importance of evaluating the parameters of the linear operator model across diverse clinical and community samples.

Impulsivity and sexual addiction: factor structure and criterion-related validity of the sexual addiction screening test in Mexican adults.

Sexual addiction is associated with serious health problems. Due to that fact, it is quite important to perform a comprehensive assessment. The Sex Addiction Screening Test (SAST-R) is a self-administered questionnaire with good psychometric properties used in several countries. Our study conducts a cross-cultural adaptation of the SAST-R on the Mexican population. The original version of the SAST-R was translated into Mexican Spanish, and we performed a pilot with 23 participants to be sure that the participants understood the meaning of the items. The final version was administered to 370 adults who completed the SAST-R, and measures of impulsivity (the Kirby questionnaire), reward/punishment responsivity (BIS-BAS scale), personality (BIG-Five), and psychological distress (SCL-90). The confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with a five-factor model with one second-order factor model had the best fit. Reliability analysis suggests acceptable internal consistency (α = 0.80). The SAST-R scores exhibited significant correlations with several variables. Specifically, they showed a positive correlation with the neuroticism scale (r = 0.11, p < 0.05), a negative correlation with the conscientiousness scale (r = -0.21, p < 0.01), a negative correlation with the BIS scale (r = -0.11, p < 0.05), and a positive correlation with psychological distress (r = 0.34, p < 0.01). Notably, there were no significant correlations observed with variables that we initially expected to have a substantial association, such as impulsivity (r = -0.004, p > 0.05) and the three BAS subscales (p > 0.05). We found with an algorithm that psychological distress, impulsivity, neuroticism, and agreeableness were the good predictors to identify high scores of hypersexuality. Our results confirmed that the Mexican Spanish version of the SAST-R has good psychometric properties to be used in future research.

To produce or not to produce? Contrasting the effect of substance abuse in social decision-making situations.

Substance use disorders (SUD) have been related to high criminal justice costs, expensive healthcare, social impairment, and decision-making deficits. In non-social decision-making tasks, people with SUD tend to take more risks and choose small immediate rewards than controls. However, few studies have explored how people with SUD behave in social decision-making situations where the resources and profits depend directly on participants' real-time interaction, i.e., social foraging situations. To fulfill this gap, we developed a real-time interaction task to (a) compare the proportion of producers (individuals who tend to search for food sources) and scroungers (individuals who tend to steal or join previously discovered food sources) among participants with SUD and controls with respect to the optimal behavior predicted by the Rate Maximization Model, and (b) explore the relationship between social foraging strategies, prosocial behavior, and impulsivity. Here participants with SUD (n = 20) and a non-user control group (n = 20) were exposed to the Guaymas Foraging task (GFT), the Social Discounting task (SD), and the Delay Discounting task (DD). We found that participants in the control group tended to produce more and obtain higher profits in contrast to substance abuser groups. Additionally, SD and DD rates were higher for scroungers than producers regardless of the group. Our results suggest that producers tend to be more altruistic and less impulsive than scroungers. Knowing more about social strategies and producers' characteristics could help develop substance abuse prevention programs.

Delay and probability discounting by drug-dependent cocaine and marijuana users.

RATIONALE: Steep discounting of delayed monetary rewards by substance-dependent individuals is well-established. Less is known, however, about discounting other kinds of outcomes, and very little is known about discounting by marijuana-dependent individuals. OBJECTIVES: To determine how cocaine-dependent individuals and marijuana-dependent individuals discount various delayed and probabilistic outcomes, both positive and negative. METHODS: Marijuana-dependent individuals, cocaine-dependent individuals, and controls performed delay and probability discounting tasks with various hypothetical outcomes. RESULTS: The cocaine-dependent (but not the marijuana-dependent) group discounted delayed liquid rewards and monetary gains, but not delayed losses, more steeply than the control group. In contrast, the marijuana-dependent group (but not the cocaine-dependent group) discounted delayed monetary losses more steeply than controls. There were no group differences in discounting for any of the probabilistic outcomes. Factor analysis revealed a delayed gain factor, a probabilistic gain factor, and a delayed/probabilistic loss factor. The delayed gain factor scores for the cocaine-dependent group, but not the marijuana-dependent group, differed significantly from those of the control group. The groups did not differ in their probabilistic gain factor scores, and the marijuana-dependent group did not differ from the controls with respect to their loss factor scores. CONCLUSIONS: These results are inconsistent with the idea that steep discounting of both gains and losses and both delayed and probabilistic outcomes reflects a general impulsivity trait, as well as with the idea that all drug-dependent individuals are steep discounters. Rather, differences in discounting appear to be related to both the type of outcome and the specific drug on which individuals are dependent.

Validation of a cocaine craving questionnaire (CCQ-G) in Mexican population / Cuestionario del craving (apetencia) de cocaína (CCQ-G) en población mexicana

This study aimed for the validation of the General Cocaine Craving Questionnaire (CCQ-G) in Mexican population. To achieve this, the scale was applied by interviewing 233 cocaine users, of which 214 met inclusion criteria for the final analysis. This study's inclusion criterion was: not having a psychotic episode and/or manic or depressive or cognitive damage that could impede adequate test solving. The sample consisted entirely of male participants, aged between 18 and 59 years (M = 27, SD = 9.2). All participants met DSM-IV-TR criteria for substance abuse and dependence. 83% of the sample were polydrug users, but reported cocaine as their main drug of use. 74.8% of the sample reported previously having attended treatment for cocaine dependence. At the time of the study, all of the sample was under residential treatment between their 4th and 12th week and was distributed in 5 different institutions whose treatment model is grounded in the philosophy of Alcoholics Anonymous. After factor analysis was performed, the model was adjusted to three factors. Factor 1 referred to intention to use cocaine, factor 2 expressed desire for cocaine consumption, and factor 3 referred to positive expectancies for cocaine consumption. The instrument showed good internal consistency with an α=.87.

El presente estudio tuvo como objetivo validar en la población mexicana la escala Cocaine Craving Questionnaire General (CCQ-G). Para conseguir tal objetivo, se entrevistó y aplicó la escala a una N = 233 consumidores de cocaína que decidieron participar voluntariamente en el estudio. Los criterios para ingresar al estudio fueron los siguientes: no sufrir un episodio psicótico, maniaco, depresivo o daño cognitivo que impidiera resolver adecuadamente la escala. La muestra estuvo constituida por participantes masculinos, que reunían los criterios del DSM-IV-TR para abuso y dependencia a sustancias, con edades comprendidas entre 18 y 59 años (M=27, SD=9.2). En el momento de las entrevistas estaban bajo tratamiento residencial entre la cuarta y duodécima semanas en cinco diferentes instituciones cuyo tratamiento se basa en el modelo de Alcohólicos Anónimos. El análisis factorial que se realizó señaló que el modelo se ajustaba a tres factores. El Factor 1 hacía referencia a la intención de uso de cocaína; el Factor 2 expresaba deseos de consumo de cocaína; el Factor 3 hacía referencia a las expectativas positivas del consumo de cocaína. El instrumento también mostró una adecuada consistencia interna con un α=.87.