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

Abstract

The Sensation-Seeking Scale and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory were administered to 30 white, 30 black, and 30 Hispanic male narcotic drug abusers in residential treatment. Individual drug abuse histories were assessed in semistructured interviews. The results indicate that (a) white subjects scored significantly higher on the five Sensation-Seeking subscales than did either black or Hispanic subjects. No significant differences were obtained between ethnic groups on state or trait anxiety, (b) Even though the prevalence of the use of alcohol, cannabis, street methodone, and cocaine was similar in the three ethnic groups, significantly more white subjects had used amphetamines, barbiturates, tranquilizers, methaqualone, inhalants, and psychedelics. (c) Measures of sensation seeking and anxiety correlated significantly with the number of different drugs used by whites, although the measures were virtually unrelated to drug use among nonwhites. The frequency of use of stimulant, depressant, or hallucinogenic drugs was unrelated to the user's level of sensation seeking or anxiety. Among individuals with extensive histories of drug abuse, ethnicity appeared to be more closely related to drug-use patterns than motivational variables such as sensation seeking and anxiety.

The Prediction of Drug Use Among College Students From MMPI, MCMI, and Sensation Seeking Scales

“…When the effects of sex and race were analyzed on predictor scales, the results confirm prior findings reported in the literature; that is, males scored higher on both the SSS (Zuckerman, 1979) and MAC (Wolfson & Erbaugh, 1984) than did females, and whites scored higher than blacks on the SSS (Carrol & Zuckerman, 1977;Kaestner, Rosen, & Appel, 1977;Sutker et al, 1978). In relation to the current findings of higher Pd scale scores for black than white subjects, this result is consistent with the MMPI literature on normal samples (e.g., Gynthcr, 1972) and opposite to the pattern often found in studies of hardcore drug addict samples (e.g., Penk, Woodward, Robinowitz, & Hess, 1978).…”

Former heroin addicts with or without a history of cocaine dependence are more impulsive than controls

“…Early studies hypothesized that subjects preferring sedating or depressant drugs, such as heroin, might be low in sensation seeking (Kaestner et al, 1977; Kohn et al, 1979). Patients in methadone treatment scored higher on a novelty seeking scale, marginally higher on external sensation seeking, and appeared “more bored and desirous of change in their lives” than were controls (Kohn et al, 1979).…”

Drug Use among African Americans: Ethnic Identity as a Protective Factor

“…There is considerable consensus among investigators regarding the personality attributes of adolescent drug users. Three dimensions appear to be of particular importance, unconventionality, problem behavior, and, to a lesser extent, intrapersonal stress (Castro, et al, 1987;Kaestner, Rosen, & Appel, 1977;Vega, et al, 1993;Watts & Wright, 1990). Therefore, we have included measures assessing these aspects of personahty.…”