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Impulsivity and executive functions in polysubstance-using rave attenders

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Abstract

Objectives

Rave parties are characterized by high levels of drug use and polysubstance-using patterns that may be especially harmful for psychological and neuropsychological functioning. The aim of this study was to conduct a comprehensive assessment of different aspects of impulsivity and executive functions in a sample of polysubstance-using rave attenders.

Methods

We collected data from two groups: rave attenders (RvA, n = 25) and drug-free healthy comparison individuals (HCI, n = 27). RvA were regular users of cannabis, cocaine, methampethamine, hallucinogens, and alcohol. The assessment protocol included a drug-taking interview, the UPPS-P Impulsive Behavior Scale, the delay-discounting questionnaire and a set of neuropsychological tests taxing different aspects of executive functions: response speed, working memory, reasoning, response inhibition and switching, self-regulation, decision making, and emotion perception.

Results

For impulsivity measures, RvA had significantly elevated scores on lack of perseverance and positive and negative urgency, but did not differ from controls on lack of premeditation or sensation seeking. For neuropsychological functioning, RvA had significantly poorer performance on indices of analogical reasoning, processing speed, working memory, inhibition/switching errors, and decision making, but performed similar to controls on indices of self-regulation, reversal learning, and emotion processing. Peak and binge alcohol and drug use were positively correlated with positive urgency, and negatively correlated with performance on executive indices.

Conclusion

Rave attenders have selective alterations of impulsive personality and executive functions. These findings can contribute to delineate the neuropsychological profiles that distinguish recreational polysubstance use from substance dependence.

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Acknowledgements

The research described here has been supported by grants SEJ2006-08278/PSIC, Spanish Ministry of Science, and P07-HUM-03089 from the Council of Innovation, Science and Enterprise, Junta de Andalucía (PI: Mguel Pérez-García) and PSI2009-13133 (PI: José C Perales) from the Spanish Ministry of Science. The authors would like to thank Mr. Claudio Vidal Giné and Energy Control for their important support in the recruitment of rave attenders.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológico, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

    Antonio Verdejo-García & Miguel Pérez-García

  2. Institute of Neuroscience F. Olóriz, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

    Antonio Verdejo-García & Miguel Pérez-García

  3. Department of Psychology, Universidad de Jaén, Jaén, Spain

    María del Mar Sánchez-Fernández & Luisa María Alonso-Maroto

  4. Fundación Andaluza de Ayuda a las Drogodependencias e Inserción Social (FADAIS), Andalusia, Spain

    Fermín Fernández-Calderón

  5. Department of Psychology, Universidad de Huelva, Huelva, Spain

    Fermín Fernández-Calderón & Óscar Lozano

  6. Department of Experimental Psychology, Universidad de Granada, Granada, Spain

    Jose C. Perales

  7. Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Granada, Campus de Cartuja S/N, 18071, Granada, Spain

    Antonio Verdejo-García

Authors
  1. Antonio Verdejo-García
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  2. María del Mar Sánchez-Fernández
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  3. Luisa María Alonso-Maroto
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  4. Fermín Fernández-Calderón
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  5. Jose C. Perales
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  6. Óscar Lozano
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  7. Miguel Pérez-García
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Antonio Verdejo-García.

Additional information

María del Mar Sánchez-Fernández and Luisa María Alonso-Maroto contributed equally to the development of this manuscript.

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Supplementary material. Figure 1

Iowa gambling task performance across task blocks in rave attenders (RvA) and healthy comparison individuals (HCI). (DOC 23 kb)

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Verdejo-García, A., del Mar Sánchez-Fernández, M., Alonso-Maroto, L.M. et al. Impulsivity and executive functions in polysubstance-using rave attenders. Psychopharmacology 210, 377–392 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-010-1833-8

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