A Comparison of Attentional Bias Towards Drug Cues in Addicts and Non-Addicts

Background: according to recent theories on addiction, attentional bias towards drug-related stimuli plays a pivotal role in the initiation of drug abuse.objectives: the present study attempted to investigate attentional bias towards drug-related words in addicts and non-addicts. patients and methods: to attain the objectives, following a causal-comparative study, a number of 15 addicts under treatment in anonymous groups, and 15 non-addicts from among students at isfahan university were selected through available sampling. both groups were evaluated through stroop test, and the results were analyzed adopting independent t-test. findings: as indicated by the findings, a significant difference was observed in the two groups concerning color-naming accuracy (p < 0.05, x2 (1) = 3.896) as well as reaction time (p < 0.0001, x2 (1) = 17.404). the calculated difference between accuracy and reaction time for congruent and incongruent stimuli was significant.results: the results showed that there was a significant difference between the average reaction time of the two groups. in terms of the number of errors, however, no significant difference was observed. conclusions: the attentional bias of drug addicts is associated with drug-related cues or the temptation for drug abuse.