The aim of this study was to identify risk factors for benzodiazepine (BZD) dependence, such as sociodemographic variables, characteristics of BZD use, and psychiatric parameters, which to date have been found to relate inconsistently to indicators of BZD dependence such as chronic BZD use and BZD withdrawal symptoms. The Benzodiazepine Dependence Self-Report Questionnaire (Bendep-SRQ), Schedul...

In standard drug self-administration settings, animals have no choice than drug use. As a result, serious doubt exists about the interpretation of drug use in experimental animals. Is it symptomatic of an underlying addiction state or merely an expectable response to lack of choice? This incertitude in turn casts a shadow over many behavioral and neurobiological changes that have been well docu...

Ras-ERK signalling in the brain plays a central role in drug addiction. However, to date, no clinically relevant inhibitor of this cascade has been tested in experimental models of addiction, a necessary step toward clinical trials. We designed two new cell-penetrating peptides - RB1 and RB3 - that penetrate the brain and, in the micromolar range, inhibit phosphorylation of ERK, histone H3 and ...

CONTEXT There has been a great deal of research on the comorbidity between alcohol abuse or dependence (AAD) and major depression (MD). However, it is unclear whether AAD increases the risk of MD or vice versa. OBJECTIVE To examine the associations between AAD and MD using fixed-effects modeling to control for confounding and using structural equation models to ascertain the direction of caus...

An important goal of addiction research and treatment is to predict behavioural responses to drug-related stimuli. This goal is especially important for patients with impaired insight, which can interfere with therapeutic interventions and potentially invalidate self-report questionnaires. This research tested (i) whether event-related potentials, specifically the late positive potential, predi...

OBJECTIVE To determine whether adolescents who self-harm are at increased risk of heavy and dependent substance use in adulthood. METHOD Fifteen-year prospective cohort study of a random sample of 1943 adolescents recruited from secondary schools across the state of Victoria, Australia. Data pertaining to self-harm and substance use was obtained at seven waves of follow-up, from mean age 15.9...

Aims: The purpose of the present study was to compare individuals with and without alcohol dependence in terms forgiveness, shame, guilt. A further investigate association shame guilt dependence.
 Methods: Fifty-five 55 (based on ICD-10 criteria) were compared using Heartland Forgiveness Scale (HFS), Trait Shame Guilt (TSGS).
 Results: Individuals showed a significantly lower level se...