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Heroin Addiction and Related Clinical Problems: 2012, 14, 2 (pages: 35 - 48)

The Effects of Psychopathology and Personality on the Substance Abuse in the Twelve-Step Treatment Program Abstainers, Opiate Substance Abusers and Normally Sample

Khodarahimi S., Branch E.

Summary: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of psychopathology and personality on opiate substance abuse, and also to investigate the roles of marital status, income, educational level, and familial history of drug abuse and family size, as well as ethnicity, in determining substance abuse. There were 150 young adult male participants divided into three groups; these comprised twelve-step treatment programme abstainers, opiate addicts and normal individuals, respectively. A demographic questionnaire, the SCL-90-R, and the NEO PI-R were used in this study. The study data demonstrated significantly positive and negative correlations between the Neuroticism and Extraversion dimensions of personality and all indices of psychopathology. Patients with opiate use had significantly higher levels of psychopathology than the other two groups. The twelve-step self-treatment programme significantly lowered psychopathology in patients with opiate abuse. In addition, normal individuals had a significantly lower level of Neuroticism and higher levels of Openness to Experience, Agreeableness and Conscientiousness than either opiates abusers or abstainers. Lastly, the results of the study indicated the effects of familial history of substance abuse and family size on prospective drug abuse.