Addiction as an Attachment Disorder: White Matter Impairment Is Linked to Increased Negative Affective States in Poly-Drug Use

Abstract

Substance use disorders (SUD) have been shown to be linked to various neuronal and behavioral impairments. In this study, we investigate whether there is a connection between the integrity of white matter (WM) and attachment styles as well as different affective states including spirituality in a group of patients diagnosed for poly-drug use disorder (PUD) in comparison to non-clinical controls. A total sample of 59 right-handed men, comprising the groups of patients with PUD (n = 19), recreational drug-using individuals (RUC; n = 20) as well as non-drug using controls were recruited (NUC; n = 20). For the behavioral assessment, we applied the Adult Attachment-Scale, the Affective Neuroscience Personality-Scale (short version) and the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-Being. Diffusion Tensor Imaging was used to investigate differences in WM neural connectivity. Analyses revealed decreased Fractional Anisotropy and decreased Mean Diffusivity in PUD patients as compared to RUC and NUC. No differences were found between RUC and NUC. Additional ROI analyses suggested that WM impairment in the superior longitudinal fasciculus (SLF) and the superior corona radiata (SCR) was linked to more insecure attachment as well as to more negative affectivity. No substantial correlation was observed with spirituality. These findings are mainly limited by the cross-sectional design of the study. However, our preliminary results support the idea of addiction as an attachment disorder, both at neuronal and behavioral levels. Further research might be focused on the changes of insecure attachment patterns in SUD treatment and their correlation with changes in the brain.

Reward sensitivity, affective neuroscience personality, symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, andTPH2-703G/T (rs4570625) genotype

“…The ANPS has, in contrast to lexical approaches to the structure of personality, been constructed bottom-up to measure personality as revealed in expression on primary emotion systems, defined by neurobiological studies across mammalian species (Panksepp, 1998). ANPS facets distinctly correlate with measures of white matter integrity in polydrug abusers (Unterrainer et al, 2017), a subject group with likely deviations in reward sensitivity. Recently, problematic use of internet and smartphone addiction were associated with high expression of FEAR and SADNESS, and to a lesser extent ANGER, and to low levels of CARE, PLAY, and SEEKING (Montag et al, 2016).…”

Personality Influences the Relationship Between Primary Emotions and Religious/Spiritual Well-Being

“…Understanding the interactions between primary emotions, personality and RSWB could be of particular importance to clinical research, as these dimensions have been discussed in relation to various psychological disorders, e.g., ( Horton et al, 2015 ; Hiebler-Ragger et al, 2016 ; Unterrainer et al, 2017 ). For example, substance use disorders have been linked to a deficiency in personality development ( Bernstein et al, 1998 ; Trull et al, 2000 ) emotion regulation ( Goldstein and Volkow, 2011 ) as well as low RSWB ( Unterrainer et al, 2013 ).…”

Sucht als Bindungsstörung

“…Unterrainer et al [28,29] konnte jeweils einunsichererBindungsstil innerhalbder Suchtgruppen im Vergleich zu Kontrollgruppe beobachtet werden.…”

“…Trotz der unsicheren Datenlage kann die Annahme eines gehäuften Auftretens unsicherer Bindung bei Suchtpatienten zumindest als tendenziell bestätigt gelten. Auch mag das Auftreten eines ängstlich-vermeidenden Bindungsstils als spezifisch für die Suchterkrankungen gelten [11,17,20,21,28,29]. Dem entsprechend konnte z.…”