Low Self-Concept as a Cause of Drug Abuse

Abstract

A study was done to determine if low self-concept is a common denominator as a causative factor of drug abuse among adolescents. An open-ended and forced choice sentence completion was the instrument used to question 37 adolescent members of a drug rehabilitation program. The results showed that 75.5% of the subjects considered low self-concept to be one cause of their turning to drugs and 91.9% felt that boredom and curiosity was another. 67.5% put the blame on peer pressure while 64.8% said they were pleasure seeking. It was concluded that boredom, curiosity and low self-concept were significant causes of drug abuse in many adolescents. The implications were for preventive programs aimed at keeping adolescents busy and interested in alternative activities and at enhancing self-concept and building self-esteem.