Drug use by prisoners and their difficult life experiences

<ns3:p>The aim of this article is to empirically examine the relationship between difficult life experiences and prisoners’ attitudes toward drug use. The study is grounded in Bandura’s social-cognitive theory and the concept of self-efficacy, which play a crucial role in regulating health-related and risky behaviors. The research sample consisted of 716 inmates from penitentiary institutions of the Lublin District Prison Service. Data were collected using the Self-Assessment of Life Questionnaire (Niewiadomska, 2007) and the Prisoners’ Attitudes Toward Drug Use Questionnaire (Kalinowski et al., 2024). Correlation and linear regression analyses revealed that past difficult experiences positively predicted negative attitudes toward drug use, whereas anticipated future difficulties negatively predicted such attitudes. Although statistically significant, the predictive power of these relationships was relatively weak, suggesting the complexity of mechanisms shaping attitudes toward psychoactive substances. These findings have practical implications for rehabilitation and prevention programs, highlighting the importance of interventions focused on the reinterpretation of past adversities as well as the strengthening of inmates’ sense of agency and hope for the future.</ns3:p>