Employee Attitude Crystallization and Substance Use Policy: Test of a Classification Scheme

• NCJ Number: 171806
• Journal: Journal of Drug Issues Volume: 26 Issue: 4 Dated: (Fall 1996) Pages: 831-864
• Author(s): J B Bennett; W E K Lehman
• Date Published: 1996
• Length: 34 pages
• Grant Number(s): DA04390
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute on Drug Abuse
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: DCC

Annotation

Survey data from municipal employees in three southwestern cities were used to examine personal and situational factors that may determine employee attitudes toward policies regarding employee drug testing.

Abstract

Results supported a distinction among five attitude categories: (1) those who are dissatisfied with efforts to control employee drug abuse, (2) those who are satisfied with efforts to control employee drug abuse, (3) those who oppose a drug testing policy, (4) those who support a drug testing policy, and (5) those who are uninformed. Discriminant analyses also suggested that three different profiles characterized these attitude groups. Employees dissatisfied with efforts to control employee drug abuse reported low personal alcohol use, high alcohol use by coworkers, and low self-referral, whereas employees who opposed a drug testing policy reported high personal drug use, high use by co-workers, and low job identity. Findings supported the hypothesis that exposure to drug use by coworkers best differentiated between employees who had crystallized their opinions about policy and those who had not. Findings suggested the desirability of approaching employee groups with different attitudes in different ways when conducting policy training. Tables, figure, and 81 references (Author abstract modified)