Patterns of drug abuse: Relationships with ethnicity, sensation seeking, and anxiety.

Administered the Sensation-Seeking Scale (SSS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) to 30 White, 30 Black, and 30 Hispanic male narcotic drug abusers in residential treatment. Individual drug abuse histories were assessed in semistructured interviews. Results are as follows: (a) White Ss scored significantly higher on the 5 SSS subtests than did either Black or Hispanic Ss. No significant differences were obtained between ethnic groups on the STAI. (b) Even though the prevalence of the use of alcohol, cannabis, street methadone, and cocaine was similar in the 3 ethnic groups, significantly more White Ss had used amphetamines, barbiturates, tranquilizers, methaqualone, inhalants, and psychedelics. (c) SSS scores and anxiety correlated significantly with the number of different drugs used by Whites, although the measures were virtually unrelated to drug use among non-Whites. The frequency of use of stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic drugs was unrelated to the user's level of sensation seeking or anxiety. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Development and validation of a scale for hypomanic personality.

Constructed a hypomanic personality scale (HPS) to identify persons with hypomanic personality, an overactive, gregarious style associated with episodes of hypomanic euphoria and expected in some persons at risk for bipolar disorder. 1,519 undergraduates were tested with the HPS in a concurrent validity study. 40 experimental Ss with scores at least 1.67 standard deviations above the mean for their sex were compared to 40 control Ss, using modified versions of the Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia—Lifetime Version (SADS-L) and the Social Adjustment Scale. Results indicate that experimental Ss exceeded control Ss on measures of hypomanic personality characteristics, depressive symptoms, alcohol and drug use, and schizotypal and psychoticlike symptoms. 31 experimental Ss but no control Ss experienced SADS-L hypomanic episodes. Results appear to justify the follow-up of such persons to evaluate risk for bipolar disorder. (37 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensation seeking, impulsivity, and psychopathic personality.

The Sensation Seeking Scale (SSS) correlated positively and significantly with MMPI measures of impulsivity, extrapunitiveness, and psychopathy, and with scales of overt and covert hostility in 83 male psychiatric offenders. However, diagnosed psychopaths did not score significantly higher on SSS than nonpsychopathic offenders. Evidence suggests that while sensation seeking is related to psychopathic personality characteristics, it may also be common among certain psychotics. With this qualification, the results indicate an association of sensation seeking with impulsivity and psychopathic personality traits. (21 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and cognitive factors influencing substance use and sexual risk for HIV infection among gay and bisexual men.

Substance use reliably predicts sexual risk behavior, and sensation-seeking personality characteristics have been found to covary with these associations. In a study of 289 gay and bisexual men attending a large gay pride event, the authors examined the role of substance use sexual outcome expectancies in explaining associations between sensation seeking, substance use, and risky sex. Consistent with previous research, alcohol and other drugs were associated with sexual behavior. However, path analyses showed that sensation seeking accounted for variance in sexual behavior over and above substance use before sex and that sensation seeking predicted substance use expectancies that in turn predicted substance use before sex. It was concluded that altering substance use outcome expectancies may be an important strategy for HIV risk reduction for individuals high in sensation seeking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sensation seeking, alcohol use, and sexual behaviors among sexually transmitted infection clinic patients in Cape Town, South Africa.

Alcohol use is associated with risks for HIV/AIDS. The association between alcohol and sexual risk may be accounted for by sensation seeking personality. However, sensation seeking in relation to substance use and HIV risk has not been examined in Africa. In this study, 292 men and 219 women receiving sexually transmitted infection (STI) diagnostic and treatment services in Cape Town, South Africa, completed anonymous behavioral surveys. Structural modeling was used to test a model of alcohol use and sensation seeking in relation to sexual risk behaviors. Results showed that sensation seeking and alcohol use in sexual contexts were related to HIV risks, controlling for gender and marital status. The association between sensation seeking and HIV risk was partly accounted for by alcohol use in proximity to sex. In contrast to studies conducted in the United States, sensation seeking was not related to alcohol-sex outcome expectancies. These findings suggest that alcohol use is an important HIV transmission risk factor for many STI clinic patients and that interventions for individuals who are characterized as sensation seekers are urgently needed in South Africa. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adolescent drug use and adult drug problems in women: Direct, interactive, and mediational effects.

The authors studied effects of variables assessed in adolescence on problems from drug use in adulthood in a community sample of women. One focus of this 13-year longitudinal study was moderators, which were hypothesized to exacerbate, or attenuate, the effects of early drug consumption on later drug problems. Potential moderators were sensation seeking, social conformity, academic orientation, parental support, depression, and drug problems in parents. Direct and mediating effects of these variables, as well as of drug consumption, were also evaluated. Results showed that most of the significant effects involved sensation seeking and social conformity. In addition, adolescent drug use significantly predicted adult polydrug problems. The effects of sensation seeking are consistent with the view that this variable reflects a sensitivity to drug use, which makes it more likely that drug use gets translated into drug abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality Correlates of Caffeine Dependence: The Role of Sensation Seeking, Impulsivity, and Risk Taking.

The consumption of caffeine has become a growing concern, partially because of the withdrawal properties of the drug. The current study examined personality correlates of caffeine consumption and dependence in 60 university students. Self-report and behavioral measures of sensation seeking, impulsivity, and risk taking were administered to 2 groups, identified as caffeine dependent-high consuming or caffeine nondependent-low consuming. Scores on self-report measures of sensation seeking and impulsivity were related to group status, and only sensation seeking evidenced a significant relationship with group status when both variables were considered in a regression analysis. Implications of these findings and future directions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality, motivation, and adolescent drug use patterns.

Examined interrelationships between patterns of drug abuse and personality and motivation for 285 college freshmen and 278 high school seniors. Ss completed the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire, the Motivation Analysis Test, and a questionnaire regarding drug use. Drug users were significantly different from controls on 17 scales of the inventories. Significant sex differences were found with respect to drug behavior. Females used amphetamines more frequently than males and also showed greater multiple drug use. Child-rearing practices involving the neglect of discipline and absence of training in societal or ethical standards are suggested as significant in adolescent drug abuse. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marijuana usage and hypnotic susceptibility.

Obtained anonymous self-reported drug usage data and Harvard Group Scale of Hypnotic Susceptibility scores from 282 college students. Frequent marihuana users (more than 10 times) showed greater susceptibility to hypnosis than nonusers. There were no differences in primary suggestibility between principled nonusers and nonusers or between single-time, occasional, and frequent users. Frequent smoking of marihuana was significantly associated with S's sex, academic major, religion, family income, previous trancelike experience, and the usage of other major drugs. Frequency of drug usage data were compared with other major surveys. Findings are discussed in terms of sensation seeking and previously reported personality characteristics of marihuana users. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alcohol use, expectancies, and sexual sensation seeking as correlates of HIV risk behavior in heterosexual young adults.

Most theoretical models of HIV risk behavior have not considered the role of personality factors, and few studies have examined mechanisms accounting for dispositional influences on sexual risk taking. This study elaborated on a conceptual model emphasizing sexual sensation seeking, alcohol expectancies, and drinking before sex as key predictors of HIV risk (S. C. Kalichman, L. Tannenbaum, & D. Nachimson, 1998). Multiple groups structural equation modeling was used to determine whether gender moderated relationships among these variables in a sample of 611 heterosexual, young adult drinkers (49% women, 76% Caucasian, mean age = 25 years). The model provided an excellent fit to the data, and gender differences were not substantiated. Sexual sensation seeking predicted HIV risk directly as well as indirectly via sex-related alcohol expectancies and drinking in sexual contexts. Findings suggest that expectancies and drinking before sex represent proximal mechanisms through which dispositional factors influence sexual risk outcomes. Moreover, these relationships appear to be similar in men and women. Interventions could benefit from targeting alcohol expectancies and drinking before sex in individuals with a dispositional tendency toward sexual risk taking. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Subject characteristics and preferences for different approaches to psychotherapy: A multivariate study.

Examined selected personality variables, sex, age, interpersonal values, and educational level, as antecedents to preferences for a nondirective (Carl Rogers) or directive (Albert Ellis) therapist. Ss were 77 hospitalized psychiatric patients and 77 normal undergraduates. Individual films of the same patient being separately interviewed by the therapists were shown to the Ss on separate days. The Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory and an expression of preference for therapists were dependent measures. Ss who preferred the Ellis presentation proved to be more dogmatic (Rokeach Dogmatism Scale, Form E) and externalized (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale) than Ss preferring the Rogers presentation. Trait anxiety (Taylor Manifest Anxiety Scale) was only related to therapy preference for the patients. The variables differed in discriminability between preferences, although patients and students were similar in their relative preferences for the 2 therapist orientations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life change, the sensation seeking motive, and psychological distress.

Investigated the relationship between life change and psychological distress (measured by the Life Experiences Survey) as a function of the sensation-seeking motive (the Sensation-Seeking Scale) for 75 undergraduates. Scores on the Discomfort scale of the Psychological Screening Inventory were unrelated to positive and total life change scores but were significantly related to amount of negative life change occurring over the previous year. However, as predicted, this relationship was restricted to Ss low in sensation seeking; high sensation seekers are apparently more tolerant of negative life change. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cognitive style, sensation seeking, and assortative mating.

Examined assortative mating, the tendency of persons to marry others with similar characteristics, among 177 couples (male mean age 37.7 yrs, female mean age 35.1 yrs). Ss completed the Kinesthetic Figural Aftereffects Test, Embedded Figures Test, Matching Familar Figures Test, and the Sensation-Seeking Scale. Findings suggest assortative mating for reflection–impulsivity; reasoning–accuracy; field dependence–independence; and sensation-seeking and its subfactors of experience seeking, disinhibition, and boredom susceptibility. Analysis of relationship lengths indicated that the similarities within couples were not the result of increased similarity over time. It is concluded that partner similarities in sensation seeking and cognitive style may play a role in mate selection and in marital quality. (16 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Some determinants of unethical decision behavior: An experiment.

Evaluated ethical decision making under different contingencies of reinforcement. A laboratory experiment was devised around a simulated task involving marketing decision making and the possibility of kickback payments to purchasing agents. Ss were 120 graduate business students who made a series of decisions of whether to pay kickbacks or not. When Ss were rewarded for unethical behavior, then unethical behavior was higher than when Ss were not rewarded. Unethical behavior was also higher under increased competition. Four personality variables (locus of control, economic and political value orientation, and Machiavellianism, as assessed by Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values, and the Mach V Scale) were found to be significant covariates of unethical behavior. Foreign Ss were found to be more unethical than US Ss, but sex was not related to ethical behavior. Overall, results suggest that unethical decision making is a combination of personality, cultural and value orientation, and environmental rewards and punishments. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A typology of alcohol abusers: Correlates and implications.

Used data from 725 individuals (mean age 38.1 yrs) seeking help for alcohol-related problems who had been administered the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test; the Social Readjustment Rating Scale; the Personality Research Form; Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale; the Standard Progressive Matrices; the Vocabulary and Digit Symbol subscales of the WAIS; and measures of alcohol use, lifetime drinking history, basic personality, SES variables, and response styles to cluster analyze for types of drinkers. Analysis yielded 3 types: Type 1 Ss (early-stage problem drinkers) represented a fairly heterogeneous group, Type 2 Ss (affiliative, moderately dependent drinkers) were more socially oriented and drank on a daily basis, and Type 3 Ss (schizoid, severely dependent drinkers) were socially isolative, tended to drink in binges, and reported the most severe symptoms of alcoholism. A speculative model is proposed that consists of the 3 types superimposed on an underlying continuum of alcohol dependence; it is suggested that the model has heuristic value for stimulating further research on the etiology and differential treatment of alcohol abuse. (44 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Need for approval, guilt, and sexual stimulation and their relationship to sexual responsivity.

Describes an experiment in which 111 male undergraduates were given the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability scale and the Mosher Forced-Choice Guilt Scale prior to reading a series of either sexual or neutral passages. Ss rated the extent to which they were sexually aroused, anxious, bored, angry, disgusted, and entertained, and then responded to a sexual double-entendre word association test. Responses indicate that Ss were significantly more sexually aroused after reading the sexual as opposed to the neutral passages. Need approval and guilt scores were not significantly related to stated degree of arousal or any of the other dimensions. Low need-approval Ss showed greater sexual responsivity to the entendres than highs, especially subsequent to reading the sexual passages. For the guilt variable, Ss with low sex guilt demonstrated greater sexual responsivity on the entendres regardless of whether they read neutral or sexual passages. Results suggest that these personality variables affect responding rather than affect arousal. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex, sex guilt, and contraceptive use.

The Mosher True–False Guilt Scale, the Mosher Sex Guilt Scale, and questionnaires about sexual activity and contraceptive use were administered to 109 female undergraduates in 1973 and 111 Ss in 1978. Comparisons revealed an increase in sexual activity and a decrease in the use of effective contraception between 1973 and 1978. The data confirmed the utility of the Mosher scales for predicting sexual activity and contraceptive use, while indicating that the level of sex guilt sufficient to inhibit sexual activity in 1973 was no longer sufficient in 1978. Clinical implications of these trends in contraceptive use among unmarried Ss and methodological implications for use of the Mosher Sex-Guilt Scale as a predictor of sexual activity are discussed. (25 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sex role typing and ego identity in Israeli, Oriental, and Western adolescents.

1,129 Oriental and Western Israeli students from religious and secular high schools participated in a study to investigate (a) the relation between sex-role typing and ego identity, (b) the distribution of sex-role typing within different cultural groups, and (c) the relative contribution of masculinity (M), femininity (F), religiousness, sex, and ethnic origin to prediction of ego identity variables. Ss completed the Bar-Ilan Sex Role Inventory and the Adolescent Ego Identity Scale, which measures 3 factors: commitment and purposefulness, solidity and continuity, and social recognition. More androgynous, less sex-typed, and less undifferentiated Ss were found among Orientals than among Westerners. Sex-role type was significantly related to each of the ego identity variables, indicating that androgynous Ss were highest followed by masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated Ss. Boys were higher than girls on Solidity and Continuity, but lower on Social Recognition. Westerners were higher than Orientals on Commitment and Purposefulness and on Total Ego Identity. Religious Ss were higher than secular Ss on Commitment and Purposefulness. Regression analyses revealed high prediction of ego identity variables with greater prediction power for M than for F in both ethnic groups. Ego identity was predicted by M among boys, whereas both M and F predicted ego identity with greater prediction power for M than for F. (61 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Personality and attitude-activism correspondence.

Studied personality variables as predictors of activism when the contribution of attitude was partialed out. Critical evaluation of earlier studies suggested 2 methodological improvements. First, a multiple-act criterion of activism was used. Second, sex differences were examined. Additionally, a relatively large (448 Ss) and primarily nonstudent sample was employed. Attitudes and activism regarding abortion constituted the focus of inquiry. Initial analyses indicated high overall levels of relationship between attitudes and reported activism. Women showed a higher attitude–activism correlation than men, and respondents with an anti-abortion attitude showed a higher correlation than those with a pro-abortion attitude. On the personality measures (Rotter's Internal–External Locus of Control Scale, California Psychological Inventory, and the Adjective Check List), Ss ranking high in activism after the effects of attitude were partialed out were found to be more dominant, self-confident, energetic, and effective in using their capabilities than Ss who had engaged in less activism than expected from their attitudes. Internal locus of control in the political realm was also related to higher levels of residual activism. The personality correlates of residual activism were similar in males and females and in Ss having favorable and unfavorable attitudes toward abortion. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

A multivariate assessment of individual differences in sensation seeking and impulsivity as predictors of amphetamine self-administration and prefrontal dopamine function in rats.

Drug abuse vulnerability has been linked to sensation seeking (behaviors likely to produce rewards) and impulsivity (behaviors occurring without foresight). Since previous preclinical work has been limited primarily to using single tasks as predictor variables, the present study determined if measuring multiple tasks of sensation seeking and impulsivity would be useful in predicting amphetamine self-administration in rats. Multiple tasks were also used as predictor variables of dopamine transporter function in the medial prefrontal and orbitofrontal cortexes, as these neural systems have been implicated in sensation seeking and impulsivity. Rats were tested on six behavioral tasks as predictor variables to evaluate sensation seeking (locomotor activity, novelty place preference, and sucrose reinforcement on a progressive ratio schedule) and impulsivity (delay discounting, cued go/no-go, and passive avoidance), followed by d-amphetamine self-administration (0.0056–0.1 mg/kg infusion) and kinetic analysis of dopamine transporter function as outcome variables. The combination of these predictor variables into a multivariate approach failed to yield any clear relationship among predictor and outcome measures. Using multivariate approaches to understand the relation between individual predictor and outcome variables in preclinical models may be hindered by alterations in behavior due to training and thus, the relation between various individual differences in behavior and drug self-administration may be better assessed using a univariate approach in which a only a single task is used as the predictor variable. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)