Personality measures in former heroin users receiving methadone or in protracted abstinence from opiates

Objective: Methadone Maintenance Therapy (MMT) and detoxification to abstinence are among the most common treatment options for opiate-dependent patients. This paper compares personality traits in detoxified former heroin users and those on MMT in order to assess their relevance to treatment selection. Method: Twenty-six formerly heroin-dependent subjects receiving MMT (MM), 33 formerly heroin-dependent subjects withdrawn from MMT (MW), and 43 healthy controls were compared on the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-II (MCMI-II) and the Temperament and Character Inventory (TCI). Results: On the TCI, MM patients had higher novelty seeking and lower self-directedness scores than controls. Both MM and MW subjects scored higher than controls on multiple MCMI-II scales. MW but not MM subjects scored higher than controls on two Cluster A Scales and the delusional disorder scale. Conclusion: Schizophrenia-spectrum pathology in former opiate users may be greater than previously recognized and could potentially be relevant to treatment selection.