Alcohol, tobacco and cannabis: 12-year longitudinal associations with antecedent social context and personality

Attachment, fear of intimacy and differentiation of self among clients in substance disorder treatment facilities

“…As predicted, addicts also reported significantly higher levels of fear of intimacy compared to controls, and scored lower overall on self-differentiation compared to controls, consistent with other evidence that substance disorders are associated with relationship problems and low levels of self-differentiation (O'Farrell & Birchler, 1987;Skowron & Friedlander, 1998). The results of the present investigation indicated that addicts were more emotionally reactive (as shown by lower ER scores) than controls, in line with previous evidence of a link between addictions and neuroticism (Prescott, Neale, Corey & Kendler, 1997;Rankin, Stockwell & Hodgson, 1982;Sieber & Angst, 1990). As expected, addicts also showed lower EC scores compared to controls, reflecting maladjustment, heightened levels of anxiety, emotional aloofness, isolation from others and an exaggerated facade of independence (Nichols & Schwartz, 1998;Skowron & Friedlander, 1998).…”

Negative Mood Regulation (NMR) expectancies, mood, and affect intensity among clients in substance disorder treatment facilities

“…Drug addicts typically experience more anxiety, irritability, moodiness, anger and egocentricity than non-addicts (Francis, 1996), and individuals with high neuroticism scores tend to exhibit heavier alcohol use than people with low scores (Prescott, Neale, Corey & Kendler, 1997;Rankin, Stockwell & Hodgson, 1982;Sieber & Angst, 1990). Evidence has also indicated that severe stress is a risk factor for the development and maintenance of alcoholism and drug abuse (Maltzman, 2000).…”

Mood and interpersonal functioning in heavy smokers

“…Tobacco may be used by such individuals as a means of regulating mood and coping with stress. Research indicates that neurotic adolescents are at heightened risk to begin smoking (e.g., Cherry & Kiernan, 1976;Sieber & Angst, 1990). Both psychopathology and neuroticism appear to be associated with tobacco use onset and dependence (Breslau, 1995).…”