The influence of an attachment-related stimulus on oxytocin reactivity in poly-drug users undergoing maintenance therapy compared to healthy controls
- Fuchshuber, Jürgen, Tatzer, Jasmin, Hiebler-Ragger, Michaela, Trinkl, Florian, Kimmerle, Andreas, Rinner, Anita, Buchheim, Anna, Schrom, Silke, Rinner, Beate, Leber, Klaus, Pieber, Thomas, Weiss, Elisabeth, Lewis, Andrew, Kapfhammer, Hans-Peter, Unterrainer, Human
- Authors: Fuchshuber, Jürgen , Tatzer, Jasmin , Hiebler-Ragger, Michaela , Trinkl, Florian , Kimmerle, Andreas , Rinner, Anita , Buchheim, Anna , Schrom, Silke , Rinner, Beate , Leber, Klaus , Pieber, Thomas , Weiss, Elisabeth , Lewis, Andrew , Kapfhammer, Hans-Peter , Unterrainer, Human
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Psychiatry Vol. 11, no. (2020), p. 460506
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- Description: Substance use disorders (SUDs) have been described as a dysfunctional way to compensate for deficiencies in that person's underlying attachment system. Furthermore, the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT), which is a critical component of the neurobiology of the attachment system, has been shown to effectively reduce addictive behavior and therefore has been discussed as a potential medication in SUD treatment. This study investigates variation in peripheral OT plasma levels as a function of exposure to an attachment-related stimulus in SUD patients compared to healthy controls (HCs). A total sample of 48 men, 24 inpatients in maintenance treatment who were diagnosed with poly-drug use disorder (PUD) and 24 HC, was investigated. A 15-min exposure to the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) was used as an attachment-related stimulus and coded for attachment status. Blood samples before and after the AAP-assessment were taken and assayed for OT levels. Variation in baselines level of OT was examined in relation to the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), the Adult Attachment-Scale (AAS), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Following the AAP stimulus controls showed no significant difference in OT levels elevation from baseline compared to the PUD group's OT levels. Furthermore, in the PUD group only OT-baseline-levels may be negatively associated with the AAS subscale "Comfort with Closeness" and "Anxiety" and lifetime substance use. Our results suggest that peripheral OT levels in poly-drug users undergoing maintenance treatment are not significantly different in responsiveness to an attachment related stimulus compared to HC. With regard to non-significant tendencies observed in this study which hint toward decreased OT-reactivity in the PUD group, further research is needed to explore this hypothesis with increased statistical power.
- Authors: Fuchshuber, Jürgen , Tatzer, Jasmin , Hiebler-Ragger, Michaela , Trinkl, Florian , Kimmerle, Andreas , Rinner, Anita , Buchheim, Anna , Schrom, Silke , Rinner, Beate , Leber, Klaus , Pieber, Thomas , Weiss, Elisabeth , Lewis, Andrew , Kapfhammer, Hans-Peter , Unterrainer, Human
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Psychiatry Vol. 11, no. (2020), p. 460506
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Substance use disorders (SUDs) have been described as a dysfunctional way to compensate for deficiencies in that person's underlying attachment system. Furthermore, the neuropeptide oxytocin (OT), which is a critical component of the neurobiology of the attachment system, has been shown to effectively reduce addictive behavior and therefore has been discussed as a potential medication in SUD treatment. This study investigates variation in peripheral OT plasma levels as a function of exposure to an attachment-related stimulus in SUD patients compared to healthy controls (HCs). A total sample of 48 men, 24 inpatients in maintenance treatment who were diagnosed with poly-drug use disorder (PUD) and 24 HC, was investigated. A 15-min exposure to the Adult Attachment Projective Picture System (AAP) was used as an attachment-related stimulus and coded for attachment status. Blood samples before and after the AAP-assessment were taken and assayed for OT levels. Variation in baselines level of OT was examined in relation to the Alcohol, Smoking and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST), the Adult Attachment-Scale (AAS), and the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). Following the AAP stimulus controls showed no significant difference in OT levels elevation from baseline compared to the PUD group's OT levels. Furthermore, in the PUD group only OT-baseline-levels may be negatively associated with the AAS subscale "Comfort with Closeness" and "Anxiety" and lifetime substance use. Our results suggest that peripheral OT levels in poly-drug users undergoing maintenance treatment are not significantly different in responsiveness to an attachment related stimulus compared to HC. With regard to non-significant tendencies observed in this study which hint toward decreased OT-reactivity in the PUD group, further research is needed to explore this hypothesis with increased statistical power.
Vulnerable dark triad personality facets are associated with religious fundamentalist tendencies
- Unterrainer, Human-Friedrich, Ruttinger, Johanna, Lewis, Andrew, Anglim, Jeromy, Fink, Andreas, Kapfhammer, Hans-Peter
- Authors: Unterrainer, Human-Friedrich , Ruttinger, Johanna , Lewis, Andrew , Anglim, Jeromy , Fink, Andreas , Kapfhammer, Hans-Peter
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Psychopathology Vol. 49, no. 1 (2016), p. 47-52
- Full Text: false
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- Description: Background: This study explores the possibility that religious fundamentalism (RF) may be linked to deficits in personality structure, which is in contrast to the general assumption that religiosity and spirituality are positively related to mature personality development. Sampling andMethods: To test this hypothesis, 327 (232 female) college students completed the Multidimensional Inventory for Religious/Spiritual Well-Being together with the Innsbrucker Religious Fundamentalism Scale. In addition, the ‘vulnerable dark triad' of personality (‘vulnerable narcissism', subscale of the Pathological Narcissism Inventory ‘secondary psychopathy', subscale of Levenson's Self-Report Psychopathy Scale ‘borderline personality', of the Borderline Personality Inventory) was assessed. Results: In general, the relation between spirituality and healthy personality functioning was confirmed. In addition to greatly overlapping with ‘general religiosity' (p < 0.001), RF was also relevantly predicted by narcissistic (‘hiding the self') and borderline (‘primitive defenses') personality facets (p < 0.05 for both). Conclusions: Based on these preliminary data, we conclude that specific structural deficits in personality might lead to more rigorous variants of religious/spiritual beliefs such as RF. Further research in clinical surroundings as well as in religious extremist groups is recommended.
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