Relation between Self-esteem and Agitation Behavior Among Patients with Substance Use Disorder

Background: substance use disorders are a constellation of behaviors involved in compulsive drug seeking including impaired control of substance use, impaired social interactions with others, risky drug use, and experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Substance abuse can profoundly affect an individual's escalation of agitation behavior. Aim: This study aimed to assess self-esteem and agitation behavior among patients with substance use disorder. Design: A descriptive research design will be used to conduct the current study. Setting: This study will be carried out in psychiatric outpatients’ clinics at Okasha Institute of Psychiatry, which is affiliated with “Ain-Shams University Hospitals”. Subject: A purposive sample of 41 patients. Tools of data collection: 1) an interview questionnaire. 2) Drug abuse screening test. 3) Index of self-esteem. 4) The Agitation Behavior Rating Scale. Results: The results of this study showed that there was a high statistically significant strong negative correlation between cumulative agitated behavior and cumulative self-esteem among patients with substance use disorder at(r =– 0.978 respectively & P= 0.000). Conclusion: The current study concluded that there was a relation between self-esteem and agitation behavior among patients with substance use disorder. Recommendations: The current study recommended setting up educational training programs for psychiatric mental health staff to enhance self-esteem, handle agitation behavior and life-long monitoring for health promotion among patients with substance use disorder.