Substance-use disorders, personality traits, and sex differences in institutionalized adolescents

ABSTRACT

Background: Substance-use disorder (SUD) was found to be an aggravating factor to delinquency and is closely related to personality disorders (PDs). Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate sex differences in the relationship between PD traits and SUD in adolescents institutionalized in child welfare and juvenile justice institutions. Methods: PD traits were measured dimensionally in a sample of 282 boys (69 with an SUD diagnosis) and 143 girls (45 with an SUD diagnosis) from child welfare and juvenile-justice institutions. Results: Logistic regressions showed that antisocial, borderline, and paranoid personality traits were positively associated with SUD, while obsessive compulsive personality traits were negatively related with SUD. Additionally, in institutionalized girls, self-defeating personality traits were associated with less risk of SUD. Conclusion: This study provides a relative evidence for sex specificities in the relation between PD traits and SUD.

KEYWORDS:

• Personality disorders traits
• sex differences
• substance-use disorder
• behaviors problems
• adolescents
• socio-educational institutions

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the Swiss Ministry of justice, the Youths Welfare and Juvenile Justice Institutions, and the adolescents and their assigned caseworkers who offered their time for the assessments.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Federal Department for Justice and Police, Switzerland.