Comparison of Personality Characteristics, Family Relationships, and Drug-Taking Behavior in Low and High Socioeconomic Status Adolescents Who Are Drug Abusers

• NCJ Number: 121519
• Journal: Adolescence Volume: 24 Issue: 96 Dated: (Winter 1989) Pages: 925-936
• Author(s): R A Siegel; A Ehrlich
• Date Published: 1989
• Length: 12 pages
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Low socioeconomic status (SES) and high SES adolescents who met the DSM-III criteria for drug abuser were compared with respect to personality characteristics, family relationships, and drug-taking behavior.

Abstract

SES was determined by parents' income, education, and occupation. The two groups did not differ significantly with respect to self-esteem, quality of family relationships, impulse control, moral development, and drug-taking behavior. However, high SES adolescents were more depressed (p less than .009) and more anxious (p less than .02) than low SES adolescents, and these findings lent support to the argument that low and high SES drug abusers differ in personality and therefore require different kinds of treatment interventions. (Author abstract)