Temperament and Substance Abuse: is There a Relationship?

Introduction The involvement of affective temperaments in the field of addiction and addictive conducts has been studied very little, despite the interest that this approach can have in the study and understanding of this disorder etiopathogeny. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional descriptive study of 60 Tunisian addicts who consulted the Tunisian Association for Information and Orientation on AIDS and CHEMS center during the period between 01 January and June 30, 2013. The dependence diagnosis was selected according to the DSM IV-TR criteria. We used the Tunisian validated version of the TEMPS-A for the evaluation of affective temperaments. Results Our population was predominantly male in 96.7% of cases. The average age of our sample was 33.13 years old. The most frequent temperaments found in our population were hyperthymic temperament with an overall prevalence of 68.3% and a score of 12.78±4.4 and cyclothymic temperament with a prevalence of 58.3% and a score of 11.52±4.7. The essential reasons for substance abuse initiation were looking for novelty/thrills among the hyperthymic, the struggle against conflicts among those with depressive temperament, and anxiolysis in anxious addicts. We noted that alcohol and cannabis consumers had higher average scores in anxiety and cyclothymic temperaments. Heroin and cocaine consumers had higher scores in hyperthymic temperament. This temperament was significantly correlated with polydrug use (p = 0.005). Conclusion The study of affective temperaments is a necessary and critical step in the management, prognosis and prevention of substance abuse.