Investigation of Personality Traits and Frequency of Personality Disorders in individuals with Stimulant and Opiate dependence.

In conceptualizing addiction, the role of personality elements in the emergence and continuation of dependence to substances has attracted the attention of researchers. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the frequency of personality disorders and temperament-character traits of personality in substance-dependent individuals.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, 150 patients referred to Nekooe-Forghani Hospital in Qom and 145 healthy people working in this hospital were selected by convenience sampling. The two groups were evaluated and compared by Multidimensional Clinical Questionnaire (III). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (ANOVA, Tukey post hoc test).

The results showed that the prevalence of personality disorders was 56% in substance dependent individuals. Borderline personality disorder with 16%, antisocial personality with 14%, and avoidance personality with 6.67% had the highest frequency in the case group, respectively. Also, generally, subjects with substance dependence had higher scores in novelty-seeking and lower scores in self-directed dimensions compared with normal group. Moreover, sedative drugs users had more scores in harm avoidance, stimulant users in self-transcendence and normal subjects in persistence than other groups.

The results of the research indicated that there was a high prevalence of personality disorders among drug-dependent individuals. In addition, study showed that there was a significant difference between personality dimensions of temperament-character in substance dependent individuals and normal people.