Name: CHRISTIANE FURLAN RONCHETE
Publication date: 30/03/2022
Advisor:
Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ESTER MIYUKI NAKAMURA PALACIOS | Advisor * |
Examining board:
| Name |
Role |
|---|---|
| ESTER MIYUKI NAKAMURA PALACIOS | Advisor * |
| LÍVIA CARLA DE MELO RODRIGUES | Internal Examiner * |
Summary: 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.
