Psychopathology and personality characteristics in different forms of substance abuse

Sixteen opiate, 16 amphetamine, 34 cocaine, and 29 marijuana abusers were administered the Million Clinical Multiaxial Inventory and the SCL-90R symptom checklist at treatment admission. Results showed that the combined drug group had levels of psychopathology that were significantly higher than those of a normative psychiatric sample. The four drug groups differed significantly from one another on four scales of the SCL-90R, with the amphetamine group differing from the others on two of the scales. These findings reveal high levels of psychopathology and considerable heterogeneity of symptoms within and across groups of substance abusers at treatment admission.