JULGAMENTO MORAL E TRAÇOS DE PERSONALIDADE NO TRANSTORNO DO USO DE SUBSTÂNCIAS

Abstract

Drug use can lead to many dysfunctions and comorbidities, which may affect behavior, emotions, and neurophysiological processes. The main question of this study was whether drug use for long time would compromise the judgment of moral dilemmas, including those with a drug-related context, and whether there are common personality traits among drug users. Thus, this study measured the responses of long-term drug users [mean age 41.0 (SD 8.5)], receiving social assistance to their condition, to different types of moral dilemmas (incidental/impersonal or instrumental/ personal, with other- or self-involvement) in scenarios related or not to drug context and non-moral dilemmas and compared the results with non-users healthy controls of two different age groups, adult [mean age 41.8 (10.2 SD)] and young [mean age 22.4 (1.8 SD)] controls. Personality trait measured by Personality Factor Battery (BFP), and cognitive functions evaluated by Barkley Executive Dysfunction Assessment Scale (BDEF) and The Psychological Battery for Attention Assessment (BPA) were compared to adult control subjects. A large proportion of expected responses were given by all groups, slightly less by drug users, to non-moral dilemmas. As it would be expected, all groups responded in a more utilitarian manner for incidental (impersonal) moral dilemmas and much less for instrumental (personal) moral dilemmas, irrespectively of the context (drug-related or not). Adult controls responded less in a utilitarian manner in almost all scenarios when compared to drug users and young controls, except in drug-related scenarios. Although drug users were age-matched to adult controls, they responded similarly to young controls, in a more utilitarian manner, to moral dilemmas, although they differed from both control groups regarding the acceptability of resolutions and emotional reactions to situations. Some drug users show deficiencies in self-control and emotional regulation and some dysexecutive characteristics, as well as a decrease in general attention, more specifically in focused attention. They showed a significant decrease in trust, personality trait that can impair their social life. Deficiencies in cognitive and emotional maturation may underlie the moral judgment pattern, affective reactions and social personality trait of long-time drug users.