The association between the negative effects attributed to ecstasy use and measures of cognition and mood among users.

Abstract

Objectives: In self reports, abstinent ecstasy/polydrug users claim that they experience certain ongoing affective and psychological changes including elevated anxiety, arousal and depression. In addition, various aspects of cognition (e.g. everyday memory, reasoning, executive functioning) appear to be affected. The present paper investigated the link between these two psychological sequelae. Methods: 95 ecstasy/polydrug users completed tests of reasoning, intelligence, information processing speed, executive functioning, and everyday memory. Affect was measured via a mood adjective checklist. Adverse effects attributed to ecstasy were measured via responses to adjectives reflecting changes in users since they started using the drug. In addition, indicators of sleep quality and daytime sleepiness were obtained.Results: Users attributed a number of adverse effects to ecstasy, namely heightened irritability, depression, paranoia and deteriorating health. Adverse effects were significantly and negatively correlated with aspects of intelligence, everyday memory and sleep quality. Length of use of ecstasy use was positively correlated with adverse effects. Conclusions: While many users attribute a number of adverse affects to their use of ecstasy it remains unclear whether these self perceptions are a corollary of the psychopharmacological effects of the drug or reflect factors which in fact predate its use.Keywords: ecstasy, mood, adverse effects, intelligence 3 The present research is concerned with those individuals who consume the street drug ecstasy, usually along with a range of other illicit substances. The main ingredient of ecstasy is 3, 4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA). In a review of the literature, Parrott (2004) notes that since the late 1990s, in terms of psychoactive ingredients, chemical analysis reveals that most ecstasy tablets consisted of between 80-100% MDMA with the typical dose increasing during the first half of the present decade. Previous research from our laboratory has revealed that ecstasy/polydrug users are impaired on a range of cognitive measures compared to non-ecstasy using controls (Montgomery, Fisk, & Newcombe, 2005a; Montgomery, Fisk, Newcombe, & Murphy, 2005b;Montgomery, Fisk, Newcombe, Wareing & Murphy, 2005c;. However, it has sometimes proved difficult to establish a link between indicators of the level of ecstasy use (e.g. measures of lifetime use) and cognitive outcomes. It is possible that different patterns of drug taking may be associated with different levels of risk. For example, it may be the case that those persons who take ecstasy while engaging in excessive physical activity for prolonged periods of time in hot environments without adequately monitoring fluid intake are at particular risk from ecstasy-related neurotoxicity, (Parrott, Rodgers, Buchanan, Ling, Heffernan, & Scholey, 2006).Alternatively it may be the number of tablets typically taken on each occasion of use (Thomasius, Petersen, Buchert, Andresen, Zapletalova, Wartberg, et al. 2003) whic...

Effects of ecstasy/polydrug use on memory for associative information

“…The use of ecstasy and other drugs was assessed by means of a self-report questionnaire previously used in several studies from our laboratory (e.g., Fisk et al 2009). …”

Modelling the Adverse Effects Associated With Ecstasy (MDMA) Usage

“…Participants' drug using history was obtained by a background questionnaire. Self-report ratings were obtained for each of 15 items comprising a scale previously reported [2][3], reflecting mood or other psychological variables (e.g. 'Sad', 'Confused').…”

“…However, such findings are potentially subject to distorting influences such as the effects of other drugs used concurrently with ecstasy [4], sleep disturbance [5], and external influences such as media reports of ecstasy related harm which may increase users' propensity to attribute adverse effects to their use of the drug [6]. Statistical analysis of self-reported adverse effects can also be difficult due to distribution problems arising from a large number of zero scores for particular effects [3]. The present study sought to overcome these difficulties in studying the self-reported adverse effects of ecstasy consumption by using negative binomial regression analysis to manage distributional difficulties, and to examine variables with the potential to distort ecstasy users' attributions for such effects.…”

“…Previous studies have shown that users of the street drug ecstasy (MDMA) report that its use is related to adverse effects with regard to mood, and some other psychological and behavioural aspects of their lives [1][2][3]. However, such findings are potentially subject to distorting influences such as the effects of other drugs used concurrently with ecstasy [4], sleep disturbance [5], and external influences such as media reports of ecstasy related harm which may increase users' propensity to attribute adverse effects to their use of the drug [6].…”

Deviant customer behaviour: A perceived classification

“…Finally, dysfunctional customers can cause either indirect or direct financial cost to the organisation, such as lost revenue through stealing, or the loss of customers (Reynolds & Harris, 2006). Fullerton and Punj (1993) show three direct results of dysfunctional customer behaviour: 1) vandalism, abuse, threats, and unfair physical or psychological treatment of other customers; or 2) the customer contact staff; and 3) financial loss as a result of various types of theft. In this research, we analysed the basic groups of deviant customers based on combining a qualitative and quantitative approach.…”