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An evaluation of the psychoactive substance dependence syndrome in its application to opiate users
Author(s) -
STRIPP ANDREW M.,
BURGESS PHILIP M.,
PATTISON PHILIPPA E.,
PEAD JOHN,
HOLMAN C. PAUL
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
british journal of addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0952-0481
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1990.tb03522.x
Subject(s) - psychology , psychoactive substance , opiate , conceptualization , psychiatry , substance abuse , substance dependence , psychoactive drug , clinical psychology , addiction , drug , medicine , receptor , artificial intelligence , computer science
The Psychoactive Substance Abuse and Dependence (PSDA) section of the revised, 3rd edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM‐III‐R) bears a close correspondence to the conceptualization of a dependence syndrome as posited by Edwards, Arif & Hodgson (1981). Further, DSM‐III‐R represents a major shift in psychodiagnostics. The present study investigated hypothesized properties of the dependence syndrome and examined the characteristics of DSM‐III‐R criteria with a sample of opiate users. Findings indicated general support for the unidimensional postulate of the dependence syndrome but did not support the weighting of syndrome elements within DSM‐III‐R. The implications of such findings for the proposed DSM‐IV are discussed.