Type A Behavior Pattern and Depression as Correlates of
Substance Usage Duration among Patients Diagnosed with
Substance Use Disorder: Implications for Mental Health
Professionals
Authors:
Ijere IN, Okeke OI, Nwaoru CR, Chukwuka NN
Author Affiliations
Ijere IN Department of Public Health, Syracuse University, USA Email:
inijere@syr.edu
Okeke OI Imo State University, Nigeria
Nwaoru CR Department of Psychiatry, Federal Medical Center, Nigeria
Chukwuka NN Department of Psychology, University of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Nigeria
Background: In recent decades, substance use disorder has continued to increase despite evidence-based development to deal with the prevention and treatment of drug abuse. However, other psychological disorders and personality characteristics for instance depression, type A trait etc. have complicated the life of substance users. This research investigated the relationship between Type A behavior and depression on substance use duration among patients diagnosed with substance use disorder.
Method: Two instruments were used for the study. They are the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) which is a 20-item, 4-point Likert scale instrument that measures traits of mild to severe depression. The second instrument used for the study was the Type A Behavior Scale, a 28-item, 4-point Likert scale instrument that measures Type A personality traits. Participants for this study were 26 in-patients of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital Rumuigbo Port Harcourt who have been clinically diagnosed with substance/polysubstance use disorder (SUD). Spearman rank order correlation was used to analyze data.
Results: Results from the study showed that a type A personality trait is not significantly associated with the duration of substance usage in patients who were diagnosed with SUD r (26).26 (p
Keywords
Type A behavioral pattern; Depression; Type A personality traits