The Role of Anhedonia and Low Arousal in Substance Use Disorder Among Adolescents With Conduct Disorder Symptoms

Objective: During adolescence, transformations in the neural circuitry of the brain’s reward system can lead to vulnerabilities that pave the way for involvement in criminal and addictive behaviors. Some mental disorders (e.g., conduct disorder) are more comorbid with substance use disorders because of their unique nature.This study examines the role of anhedonia and low arousal in substance use disorders among adolescents with conduct disorder symptoms. Methods: The present correlational study was conducted in 2021 in Tabriz City, Iran. The participants were 784 adolescents with Conduct Disorder (CD) aging from 13 to 17 years at Juvenile Detention Centers (JDC). After the attrition, 436 adolescents remained. We used convenience sampling for the sampling method. In addition, we utilized the substance abuse scale, the conduct disorder rating scale, the self-assessment anhedonia scale, and the how I feel scale to collect the data. After the ethical approval and signed informed consent, the questionnaires were distributed among participants. After collecting the questionnaires, we entered the data into the SPSS software, version 23, for analysis. Results: The Addiction Potential Scale (APS) had a significant and direct correlation with physical anhedonia (r=0.226, P<0.01), intellectual anhedonia (r=0.221, P<0.01), social anhedonia (r=0.236, P<0.01), and negative emotion (r=0.211, P<0.01). Substance use increases with an increase in anhedonia. On the other hand, APS had a significant and reversal correlation with positive emotion (r=-0.173, P<0.05), and positive and negative emotion control (r=-0.197, P<0.01), i.e., less positive emotion and weak control of positive and negative emotions lead to substance use disorder among adolescents with conduct disorder. Conclusion: Impulsive behaviors (e.g., substance use disorder) respond to low arousal and anhedonia among adolescents with conduct disorder symptoms to relieve their negative emotions and strengthen their low arousal.