The paper presents the data of psychological testing of a group of people with chemical addictions (drug addiction, alcoholism, N=101), who were involved in the 12 Steps Program, in comparison with healthy volunteers (N=117). The psychometric personality test based on the Big Five five-factor model (NEO-PIR) and the Buck’s House-Tree-Person (HTP) projective test with the scoring system of 10 parameters were used. In addicts, a significantly higher level of Neuroticism and Extraversion and lower scores of Friendliness (cooperation) and Conscientiousness (sense of duty) were revealed. The use of the DDH test let to identify higher Proneness to Conflicts, Negativism, Anxiety, and Distrust of oneself. In the correlation analysis, it was found that the structure of the relationship between psychometric indicators and the results of the projective test in the compared groups differed significantly. In particular, in addicts, the indicators of the conscious and unconscious levels of psyche are more closely correlated, and the main "centers" of associations are Proneness to Conflicts and Aggression from the sphere of the subconscious (HTP) and Neuroticism from the sphere of conscious (NEO-PIR). It was also revealed that addiction moderates interrelations between selected psychological indicators of different levels, in particular the direct correlation between Depression and Modesty in healthy volunteers is replaced in addicts by the inverse correlation, while the negative correlation between Excitement seeking and Anxiety is replaced by direct one. The obtained data can be used in psychological correction and psychotherapy of addicts.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)33-45
Number of pages13
JournalPsychiatry, Psychotherapy and Clinical Psychology
Volume11
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

    Research areas

  • Addiction, Alcoholism, Associations, Five-factor model, Moderation effects, Personality, Projective test

    Scopus subject areas

  • Clinical Psychology
  • Psychiatry and Mental health

ID: 71977833