Psychological Factors Predisposing Women to Addiction: A Qualitative Study

Background and Alongside men addiction, the rate of women addiction is increasing. But most studies on this subject are about men. Because addiction among women is on the rise, research is needed to be done on identifying the factors influencing addiction. This research investigated the psychological factors predisposing women to addiction.
This study was a qualitative study using thematic analysis. Purposive sampling of 32 women dependent on drugs was done. They were selected from those attending addiction clinics in 2015-2016. Data was collected using deep interviews. They were then coded and classified into main categories.
Data analysis showed that the following psychological factors could predispose women to addiction: personality characteristics including sensation seeking, neuroticism, perfectionism; harmful coping styles including emotional and avoidant coping styles; psychological conflicts including conflict in goals, gender role conflict, self conflict; negative experiences such as loss of parents, parental neglect, violence, emotional breakdown; and individual motives including physical or mental benefits.
This research indicated that particular psychological factors could predispose women to addiction. Therefore, the factors causing this problem should be considered in preventing or treatment of these women.