Decision-making, interoceptive awareness and mindful attention awareness in male patients with alcohol use disorder

AVCU MERİÇ I., SÖNMEZ M. B.

Cognitive Neuropsychiatry, vol.27, no.1, pp.35-48, 2022 (SCI-Expanded, SSCI, Scopus)

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 27 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1080/13546805.2021.2011183
  • Journal Name: Cognitive Neuropsychiatry
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, PASCAL, EMBASE, Linguistics & Language Behavior Abstracts, MEDLINE, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo
  • Page Numbers: pp.35-48
  • Keywords: Alcohol use disorder, decision-making, heartbeat perception, interoceptive awareness, mindfulness
  • Trakya University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

Introduction: Decision-making deficits in individuals with alcohol use disorder (AUD) may be partly related to their decreased interoceptive awareness (IA), which is associated with some aspects of mindfulness. Methods: 52 abstinent male inpatients with AUD (current severity: moderate or severe) and 52 healthy male volunteers performed the heart rate tracking task and a computerised version of the Iowa gambling task (IGT). Trait mindfulness was evaluated with the mindful attention awareness scale (MAAS). Results: Heartbeat perception (HBP), MAAS, and IGT scores of patients with AUD were significantly lower than those of healthy controls. The difference between groups with respect to IGT scores did not remain significant after controlling for the covariates, and HBP scores were linked significantly to the subjects’ IGT performance. HBP scores significantly predicted IGT scores of both the overall sample and patients. MAAS scores did not correlate significantly with HBP and IGT scores in either the patient or control group. Conclusion: It is possible that IA plays a role in decision-making and decreased interoceptive accuracy is a predictor of impaired decision-making in individuals with AUD. More empirical data are needed to develop a better insight into the relationship between IA and multi-dimensional nature of mindfulness.