Rasskazova E.I., Demenko E.G., Frolova A.I. Psychological diagnostics of the risk of commitment to drugs: validation of the second version of methodic complex

Introduction. Diagnostics of adolescents' and young people's substance use and involvement in this use remains relevant, especially in view of the data on the increasing risk from the age of 13 and onward to adolescence. The aim of the study was to develop a second version of a methodological instrument for psychological diagnostics assessing the risk of adolescents' and young adults' involvement in substance use. Methods. The first control group included 123 schoolchildren of Moscow schools from 13 to 17 years old. The second control group included 760 adolescents studying in sports institutions in Moscow and Moscow region, aged 13 to 23 years. The clinical group was represented by 130 drug-dependent respondents aged 13 to 25 years (mean age 16.81 ± 2.35 years) who were patients of narcological clinics in Moscow. All respondents filled in the extended version of the methodological complex for diagnosing psychological risk factors of involvement in drug use in adolescents and youth. Results. In the clinical group, all scales demonstrated consistency ranging from acceptable to good. In the control groups, the exception was observed in the scales of social desirability and antisocial tendencies, where the consistency was low. Adolescents with risk of drug addiction were more prone to technology addiction, antisocial tendencies. The result regarding difficulties in controlling emotions is mixed, with lower scores in this study than in the first control group, contradicting earlier findings. Lower scores were found for risky behavior, seeking new things, and child-parent relations, which is consistent with the available data: in self-reports, these children say that they do not want new things and neglect risky behavior. Conclusions. The second version of the methodological complex is reliably consistent in the clinical group and agreed in the control group except for the scales of social desirability and antisocial tendencies.

Key words: psychodiagnostics, narcotic substances, adolescents, youth

For citation: Rasskazova, E.I., Demenko, E.G., Frolova, A.I. (2023). Psychological diagnostics of the risk of commitment to drugs: validation of the second version of methodic complex. New Psychological Research, No. 4, 115–130. DOI: 10.51217/npsyresearch_2023_03_04_07

Acknowledgement

Research was supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project 22-28-0152 “Psychological risk factors for deviant behavior in adolescents and youth: profiles of self-regulation and coping”.