Slower Learning Rates from Negative Outcomes in Substance Use Disorder over a 1-Year Period and Their Potential Predictive Utility Article Swipe
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· 2022
· Open Access
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· DOI: https://doi.org/10.5334/cpsy.85
· OA: W4285065286
Computational modelling is a promising approach to parse dysfunctional cognitive processes in substance use disorders (SUDs), but it is unclear how much these processes change during the recovery period. We assessed 1-year follow-up data on a sample of treatment-seeking individuals with one or more SUDs (alcohol, cannabis, sedatives, stimulants, hallucinogens, and/or opioids; <i>N</i> = 83) that were previously assessed at baseline within a prior computational modelling study. Relative to healthy controls (HCs; <i>N</i> = 48), these participants were found at baseline to show altered learning rates and less precise action selection while completing an explore-exploit decision-making task. Here we replicated these analyses when these individuals returned and re-performed the task 1 year later to assess the stability of baseline differences. We also examined whether baseline modelling measures could predict symptoms at follow-up. Bayesian and frequentist analyses indicated that: (a) group differences in learning rates were stable over time (posterior probability = 1); and (b) intra-class correlations (ICCs) between model parameters at baseline and follow-up were significant and ranged from small to moderate (.25 ≤ ICCs ≤ .54). Exploratory analyses also suggested that learning rates and/or information-seeking values at baseline were associated with substance use severity at 1-year follow-up in stimulant and opioid users (.36 ≤ <i>r</i>s ≤ .43). These findings suggest that learning dysfunctions are moderately stable during recovery and could correspond to trait-like vulnerability factors. In addition, computational measures at baseline had some predictive value for changes in substance use severity over time and could be clinically informative.
