RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Clinical, Social, and Neuropsychological Dimensions of the Intersection of Addiction and Criminality
JF Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law Online
JO J Am Acad Psychiatry Law
FD American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law
SP 179
OP 186
DO 10.29158/JAAPL.003745-18
VO 46
IS 2
A1 Paul G. Nestor
A1 Ashley Woodhull
A1 Dominick Newell
A1 Keira O'Donovan
A1 Mayte Forte
A1 Sean Harding
A1 Marc Pomplun
YR 2018
UL http://jaapl.org/content/46/2/179.abstract
AB To examine the social cognitive processes underlying the relationship of addiction and criminality, we administered the Addiction Severity Index-CF (ASI-CF) and the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT) to 35 participants (11 women) who had been released recently from jail or prison. ASI-CF revealed highest lifetime drug use for alcohol, followed by cannabis, cocaine, and heroin, with an average of 42 lifetime arrests in this ex-offender sample. The men and the women showed similar psychiatric histories marked by depression and anxiety, but the women had more lifetime problems with thinking than did the men, who had higher lifetime problems with hallucinations. On the IGT, participants showed evidence of reward-learning across the initial three blocks of 20 trials, but their performance declined over the last 40 trials, suggesting a failure to sustain gains: that is, to learn from feedback in deciding among advantageous and disadvantageous decks of cards. These deficits in motivated decision-making were moderated by current social and psychological factors, as assessed by ASI-CF. These results are discussed in regard to how disturbances in social cognitive processes may underlie the relationship of addiction and criminality.