Are ecstasy users biased toward endorsing somatic mental health symptoms? Results from a general community sample

Rationale: Whether the reported poorer mental health of ecstasy users is due to a bias in endorsement of somatic symptoms has been postulated, but rarely examined. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether levels of ecstasy use were associated with differential probabilities of endorsing somatic mental health symptoms. Methods: Current ecstasy users aged 24-30 years (n∈=∈316) were identified from a population-based Australian study. Measures included frequency of ecstasy, meth/amphetamine, and cannabis use and the Goldberg anxiety/depression symptom scales. Results: Multiple indicator, multiple cause models demonstrated no bias towards endorsing somatic symptoms with higher ecstasy use, both with and without adjustment for gender, cannabis, and meth/amphetamine use. Conclusions: Other studies using alternate measures of mental health should adopt this approach to determine if there is a bias in the endorsement of somatic symptoms among ecstasy users.