Social cognition impairments in long-term opiate users in treatment.

Background: Long-term opiate users experience pervasive social difficulties, but there has been surprisingly limited research focused on social-cognitive functioning in this population.

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate whether three important aspects of social cognition (facial emotion recognition, theory of mind (ToM) and rapid facial mimicry) differ between long-term opiate users and healthy controls.

Methods: The participants were 25 long-term opiate users who were enrolled in opiate substitution programmes, and 25 healthy controls.

Comparison of public mother-baby psychiatric units in Australia: similarities, strengths and recommendations.

Background: Mother-baby units are innovative and important models of care that allow inpatient treatment of postpartum maternal mental disorders whilst preserving and promoting the attachment relationship with their young infants.

Objectives: To report data across five public mother-baby units in Australia in order to explore similarities and distinguishing features of each model.

Method: Each unit also provided 12 months of data on key characteristics of their unit.

Episodic foresight deficits in regular, but not recreational, cannabis users.

Background: Cannabis use is associated with a range of neurocognitive deficits, including impaired episodic memory. However, no study to date has assessed whether these difficulties extend to episodic foresight, a core component of which is the ability to mentally travel into one's personal future. This is a particularly surprising omission given that episodic memory is considered to be critical to engage episodic foresight.

Stereotype threat and social function in opioid substitution therapy patients.

Objectives: People with a history of substance abuse are subject to widespread stigmatization. It seems likely that this societal disapproval will result in feelings of stereotype threat, or the belief that one is the target of demeaning stereotypes. If so, stereotype threat has the potential to contribute to functional difficulties including poor social outcomes.

Deconstructing the nature of episodic foresight deficits associated with chronic opiate use.

Objectives: Episodic foresight refers to the capacity to mentally travel forward in time and has been linked to a wide variety of important functional behaviours. Evidence has recently emerged that chronic opiate use is associated with deficits in this critical capacity and that these difficulties are not simply a secondary consequence of broader cognitive dysfunction. The current study aimed to better understand the circumstances in which chronic opiate users might be expected to have problems with episodic foresight, by addressing whether deficits reflect compromised scene construction, self-projection, or narrative ability.