Parrott, Andy, Milani, Raffaella Margherita ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1683-2410, Parmar, Rishee and Turner, John (2001) Recreational ecstasy/MDMA and other drug users from the UK and Italy: psychiatric symptoms and psychobiological problems. Psychopharmacology, 159 (1). pp. 77-82. ISSN 1432-2072

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Abstract

RATIONALE:
Recreational drug use is increasingly widespread amongst young people, but there are concerns that psychoactive drugs may be associated with psychiatric symptoms or psychobiological problems.
OBJECTIVES:
To assess the psychiatric health status of a large, non-clinical sample of young adults from Italy and the UK, and relate it to their use of ecstasy/MDMA and other recreational drugs.
METHODS:
The UEL Recreational Drug Use Questionnaire was completed by 768 young people (mean age 21.7 years) from four European cities. The subjects comprised 150 non-drug users, 185 alcohol/tobacco users, 97 cannabis and alcohol/tobacco users, 102 illicit polydrug but not ecstasy users, 115 light (<20 times) ecstasy polydrug users, and 119 heavy (>20 times) ecstasy polydrug users. The unpaid volunteers completed the SCL-90 self-rating inventory for psychiatric symptoms when off drug, with 30 additional questions covering positive moods and life experiences. Results: Heavy ecstasy polydrug users reported significantly higher scores than non-drug users on several SCL-90 factors, including phobic anxiety, obsessive–compulsive behaviour, anxiety, psychoticism, somatisation, and significantly higher rates of 'loss of sex interest or pleasure'. Self-rated symptom scores increased in line with greater drug use, so that polydrug users who had never taken ecstasy also reported a variety of psychobiological impairments. In contrast, positive moods and life experiences were broadly similar across subgroups.
CONCLUSIONS:
The recreational use of ecstasy/MDMA is associated with a range of psychiatric symptoms and psychobiological problems. However, these problems are not specific to ecstasy users but are also evident in other recreational polydrug users.

Item Type:	Article
Identifier:	10.1007/s002130100897
Keywords:	MDMA; Ecstasy; Drug; Serotonin; Anxiety; Depression
Subjects:	Psychology > Substance abuse/misuse
Depositing User:	Rod Pow
Date Deposited:	09 Jul 2012 15:38
Last Modified:	06 Feb 2024 15:39
URI:	https://repository.uwl.ac.uk/id/eprint/162

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