COMPARATIVE STUDY ON PSYCHOLOGICAL AND BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS BETWEEN "NEW DRUG" ABUSERS AND "TRADITIONAL DRUG" ABUSERS

Objective:To compare psychological and behavioral characteristics between new abusers and traditional abusers,and provide scientific data for appropriate treatment of such drug abusers.Methods:New abusers and traditional abusers on compulsory isolated drug detoxification and rehabilitation were surveyed with the following questionnaires: Demographic Characteristics,History of Drug Abuse,Characteristics of Psychological Symptoms,Defense Mechanism Questionnaire,Individual Appraisal Questionnaire and Eysenck Personality Questionnaire.Differences were compared between the two groups.Results:On the demographic characteristics,the differences of age,marital status and occupation were significant(P0.01),differences of time and duration of drug abuse were significant(P0.01),and there were significant differences between the two groups in the total individual appraisal scores,four factors of EPQ,immature defense mechanism factor in the defense mechanism questionnaire as well as the factors of warmth,intellect,emotional stability,liveliness,social boldness,sensitivity,vigilance,abstractness,apprehension,openness to change,self-reliance and tension in Cattell-16PFQuestionnaire(P0.01).Conclusion:Compared with the traditional abusers,the new abusers are younger and mainly unmarried,self-employed or have jobs as a stable source of income.The characteristics of psychology and behaviors in the new abusers mainly are anxiety,vacuity,sensitivity,fidget,hallucination and so on,indicating that the treatment for the new abusers should be carried out according to their characteristics,and people with the characteristics should be considered as high risk population when preventative measures are conducted.