A Comparative Study of Oral and Intravenous Drug-Dependent Patients on Three Dimensions of Personality

Abstract

In an investigation of personality differences between oral and i.v. drug addicts, 59 subjects attending a London [England] clinic were given the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. Both groups scored highly on the neuroticism and psychoticism [P] dimensions, though oral users had significantly higher scores on both of these scales. High P scorers were cold, unfriendly and hostile; the lower P socres of the i.v. users may be partly due to possible hostility-reducing effects of the narcotics used by this group. Other implications of these findings are also discussed.