Comparison of Empathy and Emotion Recognition between Healthy and Substance-Dependent Individuals under Treatment after Two Months, Six Months, and One Year

The present research aimed to investigate the changes in empathy and emotion recognition of stimulant-dependent and substance-dependent individuals after two months, six months, and one year of treatment and comparing it with healthy individuals.

The current research was causal-comparative of longitudinal type. The statistical population included all substance-dependent individuals under treatment in addiction treatment clinics and healthy individuals of their families in the city of Tehran in 2021. A sample of 102 people (including 34 substance-dependent individuals, 34 stimulant-dependent individuals, and 34 healthy individuals from their families) were selected through the convenience sampling method. The research tools were the empathy test and the facial emotion recognition task.

The results showed that during the treatment, the empathy of substance-dependent individuals increased, and after one year, there was no difference between the substance-dependent group and the healthy group, while the empathy of the stimulant-dependent group still did not reach the level of healthy individuals. Also, it was found that during the treatment, emotion recognition increased in both substance-dependent groups, but even after one year, there was a significant difference between the two substance-dependent groups and healthy individuals regarding emotion perception scores.

This research showed that among the long-term cognitive damages of substance use are the effects related to social cognition abilities such as empathy and emotion recognition, indicating the importance of paying attention to the long-term effects of substance use and long-term cognitive rehabilitation and therapeutic measures.