title: Affective temperaments in heroin addiction.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Much of the literature has described personality disorder constructs for heroin addicts. Building on previous work we examine the relevance of affective temperament measures in these patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  59 consecutive stabilized methadone treated heroin addicts, 34 with and 25 without psychiatric comorbidity, were compared, regarding affective temperaments, according to the Akiskal and Mallya formulation, with 58 healthy volunteers sharing similar social and regional demographics.
  
  
  RESULTS
  No differences were observed between heroin addicts and controls on either depressive or hyperthymic scales. Significant discrepancies were noted in cyclothymic and irritability scales, on which heroin addicts scored higher, regardless of the presence or absence of a dual diagnosis. In a multivariate discriminant analysis, mainly cyclothymic, and (to a lesser extent) irritable traits show a distinction between heroin addicts and controls, but not between heroin addicts with and without dual diagnoses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Cross-sectional study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest a new hypothesis. Cyclothymic, and to a lesser extent irritable traits (the "dark side"), could represent the temperamental profile of heroin addicts, largely irrespective of comorbidity, and tend to cohere with previous conceptualizations hypothesizing "sensation-seeking" (and "novelty-seeking") as the main personality characteristics of addiction.
authors.affiliation: Vincent P. Dole Dual Diagnosis Unit, Santa Chiara University Hospital, Department of Psychiatry, NPB, University of Pisa, 56100 Pisa Italy. maremman@med.unipi.it
authors.forename: Icro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Maremmani
authors.forename: Matteo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pacini
authors.forename: Dina
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Popovic
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Romano
authors.forename: Angelo G I
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Maremmani
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Perugi
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Deltito
authors.forename: Kareen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Akiskal
authors.forename: Hagop
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Akiskal
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D003527:Cyclothymic Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D005106:Exploratory Behavior; D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation; D006801:Humans; D007508:Irritable Mood; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008691:Methadone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D009294:Narcotics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics; D013694:Temperament
chemical_list: D009294:Narcotics; D008691:Methadone