The Role of Dimensional Maladaptive Personality Traits and Severity of Personality Pathology in the Prediction of Substance Use in an Iranian Mixed Sample

Background:In recent decades, the relationship between personality traits and attitudes toward substance use has attracted much attention, and research has shown that there is a significant direct relationship between personality factors and the tendency to substance use. However, the studies on the relationship between the PID-5 model, personality pathology, and tendency to addiction are scanty. Moreover, our survey showed that no studies had been conducted in this respect in Iran. This study aimed to investigate the predictive role of maladaptive traits and severity of personality disorders on substance use tendency. Objective: Drug abuse, as a common disorder, has many etiologies, one of which is maladaptive personality traits. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between maladaptive features and the severity of personality disorders in predicting drug use tendency. Method & Materials: This study was descriptive research, conducted in January 2018 to December 2019 in Tehran, Iran. The statistical population consisted of 300 normal individuals with drug abuse disorder referred to addiction treatment centers who were selected by the availability sampling method. Data gathering tools were the Personality Questionnaire of the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (PID-5-BF), the Standardized Assessment of Severity of Personality Disorder (SASPD), and the Addiction Tendency Questionnaire. Data gathered were analyzed by correlation and stepwise multiple regression analysis method using SPSS version 19. Results: The results showed that the drug tendency is significantly associated with personality traits. Among the maladaptive features, antagonism had the highest correlation with drug use (0.45). Moreover, the results of this study showed a low correlation (0.014) between the severity of drug tendency and personality traits, according to PID-5. Conclusion: In general, people with antagonism are more susceptible to addiction. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize this psychological feature in educational, preventive, and therapeutic programs for addiction.