Neuropsychological functioning and emotional distress in drug-addicted youth. A pilot study.

Epidemiological studies suggest that the incidence of substance disorders peaks in young adulthood, generally involving poly-drug use and new psychoactive substances. Consistent evidence attest emotional problems in drug addicts, especially in terms of alexithymia and sensation-seeking, and substance abuse has been conceived as resulting from inadequate coping strategies, mainly relying on avoidance. Substance abuse itself is seen as a dysfunctional mean of coping with negative emotions such as fear and anxiety. Furthermore, several studies prove that drug abuse leads to severe neurotoxic effects, with memory, attention and executive impairments even in young age. The study aims to identify the most critical features, and their interrelations, for the above- mentioned factors in young drug-addicts. The research involved 21 participants (age ranged from 17 to 25 years) undergoing residential treatment; most of them were poly-drug users, mixing heroin and synthetic drugs, and were low-educated. The instruments administered addressed: psychological symptoms (Symptom Checklist -90 Revised, SCL-90-R), coping strategies (Coping Orientation to Problems Experienced- Nuova Versione Italiana, COPE-NVI), alexithymia (Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 items, TAS-20; Observer Alexithymia Scale OAS), sensation seeking (Sensation Seeking Scale, SSS-VI) and cognitive functions (Esame Neuropsicologico Breve, ENB-2). The research provided for both self-report and observational tools (administered to social workers that knew well the patient) in order to compare the two evaluations and to infer in which extent participants were well-aware of their difficulties. Participants revealed a significant psychological distress (specifically in terms of anxiety and depression), the prevalence of maladaptive coping strategies (relying mainly on avoidant coping and overestimating the extent in which they turn to others to obtain social support) and notable emotional difficulties, with high rate of alexithymia and sensation seeking. As regard the neuropsychological functioning, attention and memory resulted to be the most impaired functions. Results also highlight that the cognitive functioning significantly correlates with psychological distress, maladaptive coping and emotional problems. Young drug-addicts present a complex and severe clinical condition, in which the role of neuropsychological deficits seems to be crucial. Appropriate treatments focusing on neuropsychological rehabilitations are needed besides the traditional psycho-dynamically oriented interventions provided in Italy to drug-addicts.