The Prediction of Drug Experimentation Among University Students Using Objective Personality Inventories

This study examined the relationships of five self-report assessment measures and university students' drug experimentation across nine drug categories. A total of 74 undergraduate psychology students, 53 females and 21 males participated in the study. The test battery included forms A and B of the Sixteen Personality Factors (16PF), the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC) of the MMPI, Costa and McCrae's Five- Factor Model of personality, and the Sensation Seeking Scales (SSS). Segal's (1973) Alcohol-Drug Use Research Survey (ADRS) was employed as the drug-experimentation measure. Drug categories included alcohol, amphetamines, barbiturates, caffeine, cocaine, hallucinogens, marijuana, narcotics, and tobacco. Two series of MANOVAS were computed, one using both forms of the 16PF, and the other employing the five-factor model, the MAC and SSS scales, for each of the nine drug categories. With regard to the 16PF, alcohol and tobacco users were found to be significantly different than non-users of either drug. However, no clear pattern of results surfaced. Significant relationships with drug use for the set of variables consisting of the Five-Factor model, MAC, and SSS scale scores were obtained. Differences were found between users and nonusers of amphetamines, barbiturates, cocaine, and hallucinogens. A similar pattern for users was found, whereby users could be characterized as high sensation seekers who are more neurotic and less agreeable.