Neurocognitive dysfunction in dually-diagnosed patients: A potential roadblock to motivating behavior change

Substance abuse has been associated with cognitive dysfunction, such as pro blems with attention, reasoning, and memory. Certain psychiatric disorders also have been associated with cognitive difficulties, thus placing dually- diagnosed patients at high risk for cognitive impairment that could interfe re with successful entry into or completion of therapy. Twenty-two dually-d isordered inpatients' were administered the Brief Readiness to Change Quest ionnaire to measure levels of motivation to change substance use, and a neu ropsychological test battery that included the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R), the Halstead Category Test (HCT), and the Wechsler Memory Scale-Revised (WMS-R). Higher general intellectual, executive, and m emory functioning were significantly related to greater scores in readiness to change substance abuse in this sample. Cognitive ability may be an impo rtant variable to consider in the motivation and treatment of dually-diagno sed patients.