MMPI Factor Scale Differences Among Heroin Addicts Differing in Race and Admission Status

Abstract

Predictions that personalities of compulsive heroin users differ as a function of ethnicity and admission status were tested in an analysis of covariance design (covariates: age, intelligence, and socioeconomic status) using four MMPI factor scales as personality measures (i.e., anxiety, repression, somatization, and unconventionality). Those volunteering for treatment (n = 260) expressed significantly more anxiety and somatization than nonvolunteers (n = 67); White heroin users (n = 144) registered significantly more anxiety and repression than Blacks (n = 183). These findings, contraindicating the notion that one personality characteristic is associated with heroin addiction, underscore the necessity for developing personality typologies before assessing the role of psychosocial dimensions in theories and treatment of heroin addiction.