Perception of control over cocaine use and stages of change

There is persistent disagreement over the degree of control that addicted patients are inferred to exercise over their drug use behavior. The study presented here proposes to investigate the perceptions and expectancies of controlled drug use in cocaine-addicted patients along the motivational stages that comprise their process of change. A total of 142 cocaine-addicted patients were evaluated with an original questionnaire--the Addictive Control Belief Inventory (ACBI)--and other validated inventories. The results were statistically analyzed. The precontemplative stage was characterized by the greatest perception of control over drug use, whereas maintenance showed the lowest perception of control. The results make it possible to infer a relation between awareness of the problematic aspects of drug use and a decrease in perceptions of controlled drug use.