Back to Journals » Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare » Volume 3

Personality of mothers of substance-dependent patients

Authors Baron D, AbolMagd S, Erfan S, Rakhawy

Published 28 April 2010 Volume 2010:3 Pages 29—32

DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/JMDH.S5693

Review by Single anonymous peer review

Peer reviewer comments 2



David Baron1, Samir AbolMagd2, Salwa Erfan2, Mona El Rakhawy2

1Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA; 2University of Cairo School of Medicine, Cairo, Egypt

Abstract: Drug addicts often come from dysfunctional families. The prevailing view in the literature is that mothers of drug-dependent patients can be characterized by strong emotional bonds and overprotection. Studies suggest that maternal rejection could be a major risk factor of developing drug addiction. This work is a continuation of our previous study of childhood parenting experiences of substance-dependent patients. The aims were to compare the personality profile of mothers of substance-dependent patients and that of mothers of matched control subjects; and to examine the relation between the personality of mothers of addicts, and severity of their offspring’s addiction. The study group consisted of 20 mothers of substance-dependent patients and a control group of 35 mothers of non-dependent subjects; mothers of both groups were age matched. Patients were diagnosed according to DSM IV criteria. Personalities of mothers of both groups were assessed using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). Substance-dependent patients (sons) were administered the Addiction Severity Index (ASI). The mean scores of the MMPI Scales were higher for mothers of dependent patients compared to mothers of non-dependent subjects. Scores on the depression, hysteria and paranoia scales were significantly higher for mothers of patients (P = 0.03, 0.02, and 0.03, respectively). There was a significant positive correlation between scores of hysteria, and psychopathic deviance and the ASI (P = 0.03 and 0.01, respectively). There were significant negative correlations between scores of social introversion and the ASI drug/alcohol use status (P = 0.007), and family history dimensions (P = 0.003). Mothers of substance-dependent patients showed disturbances in aspects of personalities that might be related to initiation of perpetuation of substance dependence.

Keywords: substance-dependent patients, personality, mothers

Creative Commons License © 2010 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License. By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.