Safe sex behavior in drug-addicted males as a function of object relations

An inventory of sexual behavior was administered in a hospital detoxification program to 127 drug-addicted males, who also completed a modified form of the Defense Mechanisms Inventory (DMI) which yields a measure of object relations. Condom use was shown to be related to an object relations mode that typifies the individual who can structure reality and needs without requiring an integral aspect of "the other" in his approach. Standardization and factor analytic data are also presented for the DMI and the object relations measure for this population. The resulting pattern and the small effect size are discussed within the reality constraints of the addicted patient, as well as within the psychometric parameters inherent in psychoanalytic research.