The Impact of Substance Abuse on the Individual - Essay Example

? The Role of Mindfulness, Personality and Negative Effect in Relation to Substance use Introduction Personality as commonly used, refers to the differences in characteristic patterns such as behaving, thinking, and feeling (Merenakk, Harro & Kiive, 2003). Addictive personality, on the other hand, entails a certain set of personality traits, which often make a person predisposed to addictions (Merenakk, Harro & Kiive, 2003). As research would have it, addictive behaviors can be defined by the repetitive, excessive usage of certain pleasurable activities in coping with unmanageable internal stress, conflicts and pleasures. Studies have shown that there exist common elements in people with varied addictions that closely relate with personality. Individuals who are known to be substance dependent have been found to be characterized by psychological or physical dependency that tend to negatively affect the quality of life of such individuals (Walton & Roberts, 2004). Such persons, are more often than not, connected with substance abuse, though individuals with additive personality are said to be at high risk of becoming additive to food, codependency, gambling, exercise, work and pornography (Walton & Roberts, 2004). Scientists have always sought to understand the chemistry behind addiction and have delved into providing an understanding of the term personality (LePera, 2011). Personality, therefore, involves a combination of attitudinal, emotional, as well as behavioral response patterns of a person (LePera, 2011). With various personality theories defining the term personality, basing on their own theoretical stand, studies have indicated that abuse, genetics alongside other factors contribute immensely to the development of narcissistic, obsessive-compulsive and other personality disorders (LePera, 2011). It is undeniable that those individuals characterized with negative psychological traits are more prone to overindulgence in substance use (Black, 2012). As shall be clearly demonstrated, there are numerous studies that have been conducted with a focus on personality, as well as substance use. However, there is limited research that explicate on the role of mindfulness, personality and negative effect in relation to substance use. According to the research conducted by Walton (2004), most people drink alcohol or indulge in substance abuse to relieve their negative affect and consequently enhance their positive affect. Walton noted that the causal relationship between substance abuse and personality is evident. It is noted that that moderate users, unlike heavy users and abstainers, are able to fit easily with others supporting the theory of affect regulation. Arguably, the exact role of negative affectivity and conscientiousness in the use of legal and illegal substances has intrigues psychologists since time immemorial. However, a significant number of the studies that have endeavored to answer this query have always targeted college aged participants in their research. This is hinged on the high probability of individuals within this group in partaking in the use of illegal and/or legal substances. Negative affectivity in this context has been widely used as referring to neuroticism and/or depression. Most studies have expounded on the impact of increased conscientiousness on the intake of legal and illegal drugs with much emphasis the highly addictive drugs. According to Kashdan et al. (2005), negative affect is directly correlated with greater use of illegal substances. The presence of negative affect increases the propensity to indulge in highly addictive drug intake. Kashdan concluded that there is a relationship between personalities, gender differences and substance abuse. This study made use of young adult. It was noted that a significant number of young adults and adolescents who engage in experimenting with alcohol and smoking do not advance to the use of illegal drugs. This is an intriguing fact. However it falls outside the guidelines created by the research questions of this study. There is need for research to be undertaken if the exact force of consciousness in combating addictive behavior is to be understood. The best known method of training the mind in awareness is via meditation. This activity has been in practice since time immemorial. Studies that have explored its use arrive at the unanimous conclusion of its benefit to the physical and emotional health of the individual who practices meditation. Mindfulness training entails the intentionally directing attention towards the present moment. It thus aids in gaining control of the present consciousness. Given this attribute, it is thus expected that health institutions advice this practice to those patients recovering from addiction. However, this study is interested with the power of mindfulness in alienating substance dependency in those suffering from addiction. The rate and extent of healing substance dependency has over the years received little attention from psychological research. As such, this study will endeavor to add to this pre-existing knowledge by providing primary data on this effect. A study conducted by Black (2012) offers insight on the benefits of mindfulness training. The study primarily focuses on how cultivation of conscious awareness influences the functioning of mind and body. Meditation training enables the mind in getting stronger. The momentum of mindfulness is propelled by engaging in meditation practices. The study notes the conclusion of a thirty year research. This study notes that meditation practices have significant positive benefits to both body and mind. Most of these benefits have clinical backgrounds. Thomas (2011) focused his study on the relationships between Mindfulness, Stress, Coping styles and Substance using University Students as participants. As can be noted, the researcher purposed to analyze the effect of mindfulness meditation and mindfulness based programs in reducing stress and levels of anxiety, improve self-regulation and coping strategies and or reduce the need for substance abuse. However, there is a clear delinks between the subject of this study and the subject under consideration. Notably, the element of personality was clearly excluded. More significantly, the researcher’s overreliance on secondary data without providing background information on the secondary data as a source raises the questions of whether the source were credible and reliable enough so as to make the study to be reliable. The study, as well had a narrow scope given that it focused solely on university students. By and large, the failure by the researcher justify the use of the methodology used provides room to believe that the study fell short of credibility. It can be noted that the researcher on his part was bias in various grounds including the design employed in the study. In yet another research, LePera (2011) carried out a study with a view to ascertain the existing relationship between boredom proneness, mindfulness, anxiety, depression, and substance use. The researcher’s key focus was on the concept and impact of boredom in determining cognitive behavior. Additionally, the researches sought to examine the causal link between boredom and negative outcomes. The findings indicate that those individuals who scored higher in these boredom measuring instruments had a higher probability in engaging in socially negative activities. However, unlike the previous studies, this primary limitation was on the lack of using a standardized measure of boredom. The researcher opted to use an affect questionnaire instead of the more favorable and reliable instruments of boredom scale. Though, the findings of this study can be effectively utilized across a significant rage of age, failure by the researcher to address the imminent weaknesses downplays the idea of reliability of the study. More evidently, there was failure in terms of the instrument of choice for data collection. Lack of mention of data validation measures that were taken into consideration, renders the figures presented by the research biased. Merenakk, Harro and Kiive (2003), in an independent study, investigated the relationship between alcohol/illicit drug abuse, personality traits, aggressiveness, platelet monoamine oxidase activity and hyperactivity in preadolescents and adolescents. The study found out that these factors do not only affect propensity to alcoholism, rather they also affect propensity to other forms of drug abuse. It is clear that this research sought to address the subject of concern, however, the use of cross-sectional methodology which cannot essentially confirm a causal link between substance abuse and the respective personality traits, is prove enough that this study did not address the issue amicably. Though their findings are in line with the empirical findings of previously conducted research, the failure to highlight measuring instruments or software used significantly impedes on its quality. Other studies have also sought to highlight the role of negative affectivity and conscientiousness in the use of legal and illegal substances in college aged social drinkers, cultivation of conscious awareness influences the functioning of mind and body, and substance abuse and personality (Black, 2012); (Kashdan,Vetter, Collins, 2005); (Walton, Roberts, 2004). None was its totality addressed role of mindfulness and negative effect in relation to substance use and for those studies that did so, they lacked were found to be biased, lacked credibility and were entirely faulty in various measures. With a gap clearly existing in the studies so far conducted, this research seeks to explicate on the role of mindfulness and negative effect in relation to substance use. In this case, the researcher seeks to find out how different levels of mindfulness, anxiety levels and depression affect the additive behavior. It is a move that is geared towards proposes measures to curb addictive behavior. The study’s central focus is on finding the link between mindfulness, negative affect and addictive behavior. The most notable gap just like it was in the previous studies, personality domains was not a co-factor. It is, therefore, clear that though in resent studies, researchers have sought to address the subject of mindfulness, anxiety levels and depression affect the additive behavior, very few if any, have included the element of personality traits. Most of the studies have focused on highlighting the link between the moods, smoking, and drinking patterns among students. This clearly justifies the need for a research on the role of mindfulness, personality and negative effect in relation to substance use References Black, D.S., 2012. Mindfulness and substance use intervention. Substance Use & Misuse, 47: 199-201.  Kashdan, T.B., Vetter, C.J., Collins R.L., 2005. Substance use in young adults: Associations with personality and gender. Addictive Behaviours 30, 259-269 Merenakk, L., Harro, M., Kiive, E., 2003. Association between substance use, personality traits, and platelet MAO activity in preadolescents and adolescents. Addictive Behaviours 28, 1507-1514 LePera, N., 2011. Relationship between boredom proneness, mindfulness, anxiety, depression, and substance use. The new school psychology bulletin, vol. 8, No. 2.  Thomas, C., 2011. A Review of the Relationships between Mindfulness, Stress, Coping styles and Substance Use among University Students. Edith Cowan University. Walton, K.E., Roberts, B.W., 2004. On the relationship between substance use and personality traits: Abstainers are not maladjusted. Journal of Research in Personality 38, Issue 6, 515-535 Read More