Substance dependence is a pervasive international problem that severely affect the physical and mental health of the individuals who have them, their families, especially the vulnerable teenagers who are at risk of developing physical and mental health problems and substance abuse because of their parents addictions. In contrast to the magnitude of the problem, little research and practice literature addresses these issues. The aim of the present study was to investigate the addiction profiles of patients with substance dependency living in Adiyaman. This study was conducted on addicted males in Adiyaman, Turkey. A total of 80 consecutively presenting males who agreed to participate in the study were evaluated. Data were collected with the Personal Information Form, Addiction Profile Index Clinical Form (API-C)-Practitioner Form. 4 patients (5%) had low addiction severity (1.6 points below), 41 patients (51.2%) had moderate addiction severity (1.6 to 4.6 points), and 35 patients (%43.8) had high addiction severity. There was a significant difference in terms of substance use characteristics subscale (p=0,019), anger management problems subscale (p=0,005), and novelty seeking behaviour subscale (p=0,002) in comparison of API subscales, API total scores, and API-C additional subscales according to age (≤25 years and >25 years). The vast majority of patients were found to have a moderate or high addiction severity, especially in young patients. It was seen that the anger problems and novelty seeking behaviours were more related to age. These characteristics, which are mostly related to young patients, should be considered during substance abuse treatment.
Key words: Substance dependence, addiction profile index, male, scale
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