NCJ Number
88150
Journal
International Journal of Addictions Volume: 17 Issue: 6 Dated: (1982) Pages: 1047-1053
Date Published
1982
Length
7 pages
Annotation
Heroin addicts who abstained from drugs while on probation or parole were characterized by less dogmatism, higher education and personality integration, fewer aggressive incidents and previous drug arrests, and older age compared to those who did not abstain.
Abstract
Fifty-two heroin addicts were classified as abstainers or continued abusers by their probation or parole officer in St. Louis, Mo. Eighteen variables -- nine demographic and nine psychological -- were evaluated for all subjects. Following factor analysis, 13 remaining variables were entered into a stepwise discriminant function analysis which significantly differentiated the abstaining and abusing groups. The discriminant function classified 78.8 percent of the observations correctly and accounted for 27 percent of the variance. Rokeach's Dogmatism Scale, the Personality Integration Subscale of the Tennessee Self-Concept Scale, and the effective demographic discriminators are included in a screening battery for counseling amenability by which incoming opiate addicts scoring like abstainers are granted priority treatment assignment. Tables and 17 references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)