Assessment of assertiveness in drug abusers

Administered measures of assertion, social assertion, aggression, and social anxiety to a heroin-addicted population, psychotic outpatients, court-referred drug users and a college student group (N = 114). The addicts and court-referred drug patients were less assertive, less socially assertive, and more socially anxious than non-addict populations. Furthermore, the heroin and psychiatric outpatient groups had a very high correlation between their assertion and aggression scores, which was not found in the college student or court-referred, drug-using group.