Abstract
Objectives: In mental health, the term dual-diagnosis (DD) is used for the co-occurrence of Substance Use Disorder (SUD: alcohol/drugs) with another mental disorder. These co-occurring disorders can have a shared cause, and can cause/intensify each other's expression. Forming a threat to health and society, DD is associated with relapses in addiction-related behaviour and a destructive lifestyle. This seems due to a failure to control impulses and to maintain adequate self-regulatory behaviour. Impaired executive functioning (EF) is taken as underlying factor for several mental disorders. Studies on EF in dual-diagnosis are limited in amount and frequently methodological issues are encountered like unclear abstinence periods. Participants and Methods: In the current study, 30 patients with DD (psychotic, mood, developmental, or personality disorder with SUD) and 30 healthy controls were examined, with comparable intelligence and age. Patients with DD were abstinent for 14.5 weeks on average. Results: Preliminary results show delayed information processingspeed and impaired word-fluency for the DD group as compared to healthy controls. Furthermore, on other EF tasks involving inhibition (Approach-Avoidance/Stroop) patients with DD are impaired and a trend is present for impairment of shifting (a.o. Wisconsin Card Sorting Task). Remarkably, decision-making performance (a.o. Cambridge Gambling Task) does not differ compared to healthy controls. Discussion: Patients with DD might not take sufficient time to utilize EF abilities. More research zooming into the diversity of EF is necessary to deepen insight and test findings. Detailed insight in the strengths-weaknesses profile can lead to tailored treatment indications, pointing out which aspects need training.
