Faculty Collaboration Database

Cognitive functioning and length of abstinence in polysubstance dependent men. Arch Clin Neuropsychol 2004 Mar;19(2):245-58

Date

03/11/2004

Pubmed ID

15010089

DOI

10.1016/S0887-6177(03)00043-X

Scopus ID

2-s2.0-1542298980 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site)   26 Citations

Abstract

To date, there are few large-scale studies that have examined the relationship between duration of abstinence and cognitive functioning in polysubstance-dependent individuals. Existing large-scale studies of polysubstance abusers have reported only minimal recovery of cognitive functioning with abstinence [Arch. Gen. Psychiatry 35 (1978) 1063]. The goal of this study is to test whether length of abstinence (1 day and 14 months) is related to cognitive ability in a large cross-sectional sample of men recovering from dependence on at least two drugs (N = 207). A series of Poisson and linear regressions were run to test whether length of abstinence is associated with neuropsychological performance while controlling for demographic variables, raw Vocabulary score, drug use, and dependency. The primary finding is that increasing length of abstinence was not statistically associated with superior neuropsychological ability. This suggests that the abuse of multiple substances potentially produces long-lasting neuropsychological impairment with minimal recovery of functioning over a 1-year period.

Author List

Medina KL, Shear PK, Schafer J, Armstrong TG, Dyer P

Author

Krista Lisdahl PhD Assistant Professor in the Psychology department at University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold

Adult
Attention
Cognition
Cross-Sectional Studies
Humans
Male
Memory
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests
Psychomotor Performance
Recovery of Function
Substance-Related Disorders
Thinking
Time Factors