Personality Traits of Substance Users in Bangladesh

Abstract

Background: Drug taking behavior and drug dependence is a multi-factorial disorder. Personality is a very important determining factor of drug dependence.
Objectives: To find out the possible relationship between personality traits and substance use disorders.
Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional and case-control study conducted in the department of Psychiatry of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University and Central Drug Addiction Treatment Center, Dhaka for a period of one year (January 2005 to December 2005). From five hundred respondents, 250 had the history of substance use disorders selected as case, and equal number were age, sex, habitat and economic background matched controls were taken. Personality traits of both cases and control were measured by applying Eysenck Personality Questionnaire.
Results: Mean ± SD psychoticism (8.42±3 vs 4.33±1.8), Neuroticism (11.89±2.3 vs 9.83±2) were significantly higher (P<0.01) in cases than controls. It was found that psychoticism was 2.3 times and neurticism was 1.7 times higher in substance users than that of controls. There were no significant differences of mean distribution of extroversion and lie scales among the cases & controls. This study also revealed that, there was no significant relationship between personality traits and different variables related to substance use except that psychoticism was significantly higher in those substance users who had have positive history of troubles with law than those having no history of trouble with law (8.82±3.2 & 7.95±2.7 respectively).
Conclusion: Personality traits may have an influence on persons with substance use disorder which detoriates quality of life.

Key words: Drug dependence; Personality; Psychoticism; Neuroticism; Extraversion; Lie scale.

DOI: 10.3329/bsmmuj.v3i2.7056

BSMMU J 2010; 3(2): 76-81