Psychological Profile of Addicts Treated in a Therapeutic Community

Perspectives and views on addiction have changed throughout history, from moralistic interpretations to pharmacological, medical, social and cultural approaches. Research and thinking about the connection between social development and the use of psychoactive substances has broadened the perspective. Personal factors that contribute to the development of a tendency towards addiction are extremely important for understanding addictive behavior, but they are less the focus of researchers. This is one of the key reasons why the underlying causes of this disease are still under-researched.

To discover how psychological profiles differ between those who have successfully completed treatment and those who have not, thereby providing deeper insight into traits that may be key to successful rehabilitation of addicts.

The study involved drug addicts (N=368) who were undergoing residential treatment for a year at the Therapeutic Community Institution, Campus of Canton Sarajevo. The study used the MMPI 2 - Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, a broad-ranging test designed to identify a number of major personality and emotional disorders, and a standardized questionnaire with basic data on addicts in the treatment program, the Pompidou questionnaire, which is used in many European countries to determine: the prevalence of substance abuse, the modality of their use, and the associated harmful consequences. After the psychological profiles were formed, we investigated whether there was a difference between the groups of addicts who completed treatment and those who did not. The IBM SPSS (v23.0) software for statistical analysis was used to process the collected data.

AGE - statistically significant differences/borderline differences were found on the scale Psychopathic Deviation (F=7.501 p=0.001), Paranoia (F=3.025, p=0.056), Psychoasthenia (F=3.144, p=0.051) and Schizophrenia (F=4.383, p=0.017). Status of previous treatment - statistically significant differences were found on the scales Psychopathic Deviation (F=6.047 p=0.017) and Masculinity-Femininity (F=5.086, p=0.028).

Understanding the personality psychological profiles, sociodemographic characteristics, history of the disease of addiction can improve the understanding of the personality of the addict and help to be more successful in the treatment. Previous research in this area shows that addicts have additional psychological difficulties that should be addressed and treated during addiction treatment.