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

Abstract

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 Scale for the Evaluation of Adictivity in the Psychotic Syndrome (SEAPS) 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 SEAPS on a sample of 105 psychotic subjects suggest good psychometric characteristics as well as the independency of adictivity respect with other clinical dimensions.