Effect of Affect Regulation Training on Positive and Negative Affects in Women with Methamphetamine Use Disorder

Although affective disorders and substance use disorders (SUDs) frequently co-occur, the role of affective dysregulation in addiction is often overlooked. Individuals with affective psychopathology have been shown to demonstrate high rates of comorbid SUDs. These findings have suggested that the PA and NA systems may differentially mediate different aspects of substance use. The present study is an attempt to determine the effect of affect regulation training on positive and negative effects of women with methamphetamine use disorder.
The study is a semi-experimental one using a pretest-posttest scheme and a control group. The population was comprised of all women with substance use disorder in Baghe Fereshteh medium-term stays accommodations center; 39 of whom were selected as a sample based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Then, they randomly were divided into two groups and randomly were assigned to experiment and control groups. The experiment group received intervention, but the control group didnt receive any intervention and were on the waiting list. The data were collected using the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). The data were analyzed through descriptive statistics and analysis of covariance using SPSS22.
The findings revealed that affect regulation training has no significant impact on negative affects (p=0.61). This training, however, results in a significant increase in women’s positive affects (p=0.03).
The findings also demonstrated that affect deregulation is one of dangerous factors for drug abuse. Considering the facts that drug abusers are more exposed to negative emotions and less to positive ones, in such situations they are likely to take drugs to control these emotional states. Hence, affect regulation training makes drug abusers conscious of the appropriate ways of affect regulation and helps to reduce their problem.