A comparison of perceived self among drug addicts and nonaddicts

The Adjective Check List was employed to compare the self-concepts of 41 male drug addicts, 44 male nonaddicted technical school students, and 37 male nonaddicted psychiatric patients. A large number of significant differences were found. Three scoring systems were used that yielded a total of 23 scales. There were nine scales on which the addict group was different from the normal group but the psychiatric nonaddict group was not. These nine scales are of particular interest since they represented traits that differentiated addicts from normals. These traits appear to be related to addiction rather than general maladjustment. Implications for treatment are discussed.