The Role of Personality Traits, Personality Functioning, Traumatic Life Events and Emotion Regulation Difficulties in Prediction of Polysubstance Use

Background: Polysubstance use as a severity index in those with abuse disorder is associated with various psychological, social, cultural, and genetic factors. This research was done to examine the predictive role of personality traits, personality functions, traumatic life events, and emotion regulation difficulties in polysubstance use and severity of dependence. Method: A total of 300 subjects (75.2% male) with (M=40.07 and SD=12.26) were chosen through available sampling method. The subjects included those abusing one substance (30.6%), a group abusing multiple substances (37.5%), and nonclinical group (31.7%). The participants filled in the questionnaires of short-form personality inventory based on DSM-V (PID-5 short-form), levels of personality functioning scale (LPFS-2.1), dysfunctional emotion regulation scale (DERS), and life events checklist (LEC-R). Results: The results of ranked regression and structural equation modeling indicated that the variables of personality traits (2.69). Emotional regulation strategies (2.04), personality functioniong (1.17), and stressful factors (1.65) had a significant role in predicting drug abuse. Conclusion: Overall, personality affects all life dimensions. Emotion regulation strategies, by affecting maladaptive traits, especially negative affectivity and antagonism as well as personality functions can predispose the person to polysubstance use.