Psychological Aspects of Drug-Taking Behavior

Abstract

A review of recent research identifying antecedents and correlates of drug-taking behavior is presented, together with a brief discussion of their implications for prevention of drug use. Emphasis is given to the need to perceive drug-taking behavior as a multidimensional phenomenon, in which the choice of drug, personality, and social factors, among many other variables, need to be interrelated. The efficacy of an interactionist approach is presented as a means of furthering an understanding of drug-taking behavior.