Psycho-social Correlates of Heroin Addicts: A Cross Cultural Study

The aim of this study is to explore psychosocial correlates of Indian and White British heroin addicts and their relationship with the personality of the users. Cloninger's Tridimensional Personality Questionnaire (TPQ).Bell's Adjustment Inventory, Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale and Sukul's Psycho-Social History proforma were administered over sample of 40 white British heroin addicts, 40 white British non users, 40 Indian heroin addicts and 40 Indian non users.. The result shows that there is a significant difference between Indian and white British heroin addicts on their personality in Novelty Seeking, Reward Dependence and their Home, Health, Emotional adjustment, Sensation Seeking Behavior and their psycho-social profile. The results reveal that by using TPQ and Bell's adjustment Inventory one can differentiate between heroin addicts of both countries and nonusers of either culture suggesting that there are typical personality factors for heroin addicts independently of the culture they are living in. On the other hand Zuckerman's Sensation Seeking Scale and Sukul's Psycho-Social History Performa reveal significant cross cultural differences between heroin addicts.