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Social‐cognitive difficulties in former users of methamphetamine
Author(s) -
Henry Julie D.,
Mazur Magdalena,
Rendell Peter G.
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
british journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.479
H-Index - 92
eISSN - 2044-8260
pISSN - 0144-6657
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8260.2009.tb00487.x
Subject(s) - neurocognitive , psychology , affect (linguistics) , cognition , theory of mind , social cognition , developmental psychology , clinical psychology , psychiatry , communication
Objectives. Methamphetamine (MA) abuse is associated with neurocognitive impairment. We investigated whether important aspects of social‐cognitive function are similarly disrupted. Method. A total of 12 adults with a history of MA dependence (average duration of use, 3.9 years), currently engaged in rehabilitation and abstinent for an average period of 6 months, and 12 MA naive participants completed measures of facial affect recognition, theory of mind, executive function and memory. Results. MA users were impaired on the measures of facial affect recognition and theory of mind ( d s=1.75 and 2.32, respectively), with the magnitude of these deficits comparable or larger to those observed on the cognitive measures. Conclusions. Social‐cognitive difficulties are associated with MA use and have potentially important implications for rehabilitative practice.