The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #35092

Hugh Klein, PhD¹, Kirk W Elifson¹, Claire E Sterk², and Katherine P. Theall, MPH². (1) Department of Sociology, Georgia State University, 401 Schuyler Road, Silver Spring, MD 20910, 301-588-8875, hughk@aol.com, (2) Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, 1518 Clifton Road Room 520, Atlanta, GA 30322

Much research has been conducted to examine the relationship between various psychological and psychosocial factors and substance use/abuse. Whereas such topics as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, self-esteem, optimism/pessimism, coping, and stress/tension have been studied fairly extensively, others have received much less attention. One such understudied psychosocial factor is perceived level of temptation to use drugs under specified circumstances.

This research examines 17 specific items assessing temptations to use drugs. After describing which circumstances people think will be most likely to bring about greater illegal drug usage, the authors compare perceptions to actual drug use behaviors. Multivariate analyses are conducted to examine the role that perceived temptations to use drugs play in predicting actual drug use when the effects of demographic variables, background experiences, childhood maltreatment experiences, other psychosocial measures, and exposure to substance abusers are taken into account. A multivariate model explaining nearly half of the variance in actual drug abuse is derived, and retained several of the temptations-to-use-drugs items.

The research is based on a study of 125 adult women residing in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area, interviewed between August 1997 and August 2000. Street outreach efforts were used to identify potential study participants, with further expansion of the sample done via targeted sampling and ethnographic mapping procedures.

Learning Objectives:

• To understand how tempted women think they would be to use drugs under various circumstances, and
• To examine how these perceptions correspond to actual drug use

Keywords: Psychological Indicators, Drug Abuse

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.