Addictiveness: an independent dimension in the psychotic syndrome. Presentation of the Addictiveness in the Psychotic Syndrome Assessment Scale (APSAS)

Models of dual pathology habitually consider substance-use disorders (SUD) and the rest
of mental disorders as two pathological conditions coincident in a same person. This study
adopts a different point of view and accept adictivity as the nineth clinical dimension in the
psychotic disorders to be added to hallucinations, delusion, disorganised speech, abnormal
psychomotor behaviour, negative symptoms, cognitive deficit, depression, and mania. In the
last term, all of them seems to derive from a common fronto-subcortical disfunction with
dopaminergic, glutamatergic and gabaergic implication.
The Addictiveness in the Psychotic Syndrome Assessment Scale (APSAS) is presented. It wants
to be an integrated and easy to use tool for evaluating adictivity in the psychotic disorders. It is
based in data collected with respect of first use, length of use, last use, frequency of use and
addiction intensity regarding twelve types of substances or addictive behaviours. Results of the
application of APSAS on a sample of 105 psychotic subjects suggest good psychometric characteristics
as well as the independency of adictivity respect with other clinical dimensions.

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Authors

  • Martín L. Vargas Aragón - 1 Servicio de Psiquiatría. Hospital Universitario Río Hortega. Valladolid. 2 Área de Psiquiatría. Facultad de Medicina. Universidad de Valladolid. 3 Grupo de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica de Castilla y León (GINCYL).

  • Sonia López Lorenzo - 3 Grupo de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica de Castilla y León (GINCYL). 4 Departamento de personalidad, evaluación y tratamiento psicológico. Facultad de Ciencias de la Salud. Universidad de Burgos.

  • Natalia Jimeno Bulnes - 2 Área de Psiquiatría. Facultad de Medicina. Universidad de Valladolid. 3 Grupo de Investigación en Neurociencia Clínica de Castilla y León (GINCYL).

Keywords:

Dual pathology; adiction; psychosis; clinical assessment scales

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