Psychosocial resources and strains and health services use among adult illicit drug users from the Miami-Dade community

Abstract

This study builds on previous research concerning the associations of positive and negative dimensions of the self-concept and social relationships, respectively, with medical treatment seeking actions by modeling potentially positive and negative effects simultaneously. Using data from the first wave of a large community study including adult (20-93) drug users (n = 318), multivariate linear regression analysis presents the effects of psychosocial resources on drug users’ medical treatment seeking in six progressive models. Social resources such as family support, family conflict, and friend support account for variation in medical treatment seeking actions in adult drug users. Dimensions of the self-concept, including perception of powerlessness and self-esteem also influence medical treatment seeking actions in adult drug users. Moderation tests reveal that the presence of family problems related to drug use is associated with a lower likelihood of taking treatment-seeking action in the context of greater family support. This study assessed how positive and negative dimensions of social relationships and the self-concept can jointly influence medical treatment seeking actions. Implications for medical treatment seeking action research are discussed.

Keywords:

• Drug user
• self-concept
• social support system
• health services accessibility

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research is supported by grants RO1 DA13292, 1999 and RO1 DA016429, 2002 from the National Institute of Drug Abuse. NIDA had no role in the study design, collection, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing the manuscript, or the decision to submit the paper for publication.