Type A Behavior Pattern and Depression as Correlates of Substance Usage Duration among Patients Diagnosed with Substance Use Disorder: Implications for Mental Health Professionals

Abstract

Background: In recent decades, substance use disorder has continued to increase despite evidence-based development to deal with the prevention and treatment of drug abuse. However, other psychological disorders and personality characteristics for instance depression, type A trait etc. have complicated the life of substance users. This research investigated the relationship between Type A behavior and depression on substance use duration among patients diagnosed with substance use disorder.

Method: Two instruments were used for the study. They are the Self-rating Depression Scale (SDS) which is a 20-item, 4-point Likert scale instrument that measures traits of mild to severe depression. The second instrument used for the study was the Type A Behavior Scale, a 28-item, 4-point Likert scale instrument that measures Type A personality traits. Participants for this study were 26 in-patients of the Neuropsychiatric Hospital Rumuigbo Port Harcourt who have been clinically diagnosed with substance/polysubstance use disorder (SUD). Spearman rank order correlation was used to analyze data. Results: Results from the study showed that a type A personality trait is not significantly associated with the duration of substance usage in patients who were diagnosed with SUD r (26).26 (p