Comparison of Personality Traits, Mental Health, and Sensation Seeking between Adolescents with Substance-Dependent and Normal Parents

The present study aimed to compare personality traits, mental health, and sensation seeking between adolescents with substance-dependent and normal parents.

The present study method was causal-comparative. The research statistical population included all high school students in the city of Gorgan during the academic year 2021-2022. Among them, 200 people were selected and assigned to two groups of adolescents with substance-dependent (n=100) and adolescents with non-substance-dependent parents (n=100) by purposive sampling method, and responded to the general health questionnaire, the five factor inventory, and the sensation seeking scale. Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was used to analyze the data.

The results showed that there was a significant difference in the scores of personality traits (components of neuroticism, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness), mental health, and sensation seeking between the two groups of adolescents with substance-dependent and normal parents. Adolescents with normal parents scored higher in openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness, mental health, and sensation seeking, and scored lower in the neuroticism subscale than adolescents with substance-dependent parents. There was no significant difference between the two groups in extroversion.

Based on the results, substance-dependent parents face problems and issues that create disturbances in the family structure. With insufficient supervision, incompetence, and inattention to the essential needs of their children, they create the basis for the incidence of personality problems in their adolescent and young children. Also, suffering from problems related to mental health and sensation seeking is particularly an important predictor for adolescents with substance-dependent parents.