Relationship of impulsivity and depression during early methamphetamine withdrawal in Han Chinese population

Highlights

• Impulsivity as well as depression is thought to be involved in METH use.

• Global impulsivity was associated with depression during METH withdrawal.

• All subscales of impulsivity were associated with depression during METH withdrawal.

• Impulsivity was associated with depression after controlling for other variables.

Abstract

Objective

High level of impulsivity as well as depression is thought to be involved in the maintenance and development of methamphetamine (METH) addiction. However, the relationship between impulsivity and depression has not been studied thoroughly in METH dependence subjects, especially in early METH abstinent subjects. In this study, our objective is to explore the interplay between the depressive symptoms and impulsivity in early METH abstinent subjects.

Methods

A total of 182 early abstinent METH dependent subjects (abstinence for 1–7 days) were recruited and the level of impulsivity was measured by the Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-11). Depressive symptoms and anxiety symptoms were assessed by the short 13-item Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-13) and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) respectively.

Results

Global impulsivity of BIS-11 was significantly correlated with depressive symptoms among early METH abstinent subjects (r = 0.283, p = 0.001). Moreover, all subscales of BIS-11 were also found to be correlated with depressive symptoms: correlation with attentional impulsivity (r = 0.202, p = 0.006); correlation with motor impulsivity (r = 0.267, p = 0.001); and correlation with non-planning impulsivity (r = 0.177, p = 0.017).

Conclusions

This study showed a relationship between impulsivity and depression, which may further the comprehension of motivational elements contributing to the maintenance and development of METH use disorder. Future research would be dedicated to exploring underlying mechanisms of association between impulsivity and depression.

Introduction

Impulsivity is defined as “a predisposition toward rapid, unplanned reactions to internal or external stimuli without regard to the negative consequences of these reactions to the impulsive individual or to others” by Moeller, Barratt, Dougherty, Schmitz, and Swann (2001). Numerous studies have indicated that substance use disorders are associated with increased impulsivity scores on self-report measures and impaired performance on behavioral laboratory tasks of impulsivity (Clark, L., et al., 2006, Fillmore, M. T. and Rush, C. R., 2002, Moeller, F. G., et al., 2002, Patton, J. H., et al., 1995, Zhang, X. L., et al., 2011). These emphasize the importance of impulsivity in the course of addiction (Dickman, S. J., 1990, Moeller, F. G., et al., 2001).

On the other hand, symptoms of depression often co-occur with substance use and withdrawal (London, E. D., et al., 2004, Melega, W. P., et al., 2008, Zweben, J. E., et al., 2004). An Australian study showed that the most commonly reported psychiatric symptom was depression among amphetamine users (Hall, Hando, Darke, & Ross, 1996). Another study showed that depressive symptoms were significantly associated with craving for the drug (Nakama et al., 2008), which has been hypothesized to play an important role in continued drug use and relapse (Pickens, R. W. and Johanson, C. E., 1992, Robinson, T. E. and Berridge, K. C., 2003).

However, the relationship between impulsivity and depression has not been studied thoroughly in substance-addicted individuals. In a previous study among METH-abuse subjects (not during early METH withdrawal), subjects with high impulsivity scored higher in the Beck Depression Scale (Semple, Zians, Grant, & Patterson, 2005). In our present study, the primary aim was to determine the relationship between impulsivity and depression during early METH withdrawal. The secondary aim was to test our hypothesis that impulsivity would remain significantly correlated with depressive symptoms after controlling other variables.