The ineffective emotion regulation strategies of heroin use disorder patients: An event-related potential study.

Background: People with substance use disorders (SUDs) usually experience emotion dysregulation, which may be a consequence of or a risk factor for the development and maintenance of substance misuse. Despite growing evidence on emotion dysregulation among people with SUDs, relatively few studies have explored emotion dysregulation in heroin use disorder (HUD) patients.

Methods: Using event-related potentials (ERP), we compared the emotion regulation ability of 33 HUD patients and 30 healthy controls according to their average electroencephalogram amplitudes of the late positive potential (LPP) component in 400-1000 ms and 1000-2000 ms time windows, while viewing neutral and unpleasant emotional pictures, and using emotion regulation strategies (expressive suppression, cognitive reappraisal, and a combination) while viewing unpleasant pictures. We recorded their mood states and how successfully they used emotion regulation strategies in each block using 7-point scales.

Results: Relative to healthy controls, the LPP amplitudes of HUD patients were significantly lower when viewing emotional stimuli (p < 0.05) and using emotion regulation strategies (all p < 0.05). The left hemisphere was more active in healthy controls (p < 0.05, p < 0.01); there were no differences in scalp position activation among HUD patients.

Discussion: Compared to healthy controls, HUD patients' emotional arousal and emotion regulation ability were impaired, as reflected by the LPP component. Their abnormal scalp activation pattern may imply abnormal brain activity. Future research could explore this with electroencephalogram source analysis techniques, functional magnetic resonance imaging, or other technologies. Intervention effects for emotion dysregulation in HUD treatment are also worth exploring.