The focus of this study was to determine if certain personality traits could be detected within a population of substance-abusing adolescents. The Depression (d), Psychopathic Deviant (Pd), Paranoia (Pa), and Hypomania (Ma) scales of the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) were utilized as indicators of psychopathological traits for this project. It was found that a significant degree of elevation on these scales was achieved by the subject, when compared to an ideal normative sample. It was concluded that this indicated the presence of certain psychopathological personality traits within this population. The implication that personality differences within this population can be detected could lead to a greater understanding of substance abuse among adolescents, and the potential for more appropriate counseling approaches with such substance abusers.

Adolescent drug use motivations were examined from the perspective of Erik Erikson's psychosocial theory (1963; 1968) of human development. The study used an existing data base derived from a sample of about 13,000 Arizona students in grades seven through twelve. Two questions were asked. The first examined the students' self-reported perceptions of drug use/nonuse motivations across the four ego-identity stages of Marcia (1966). The second examined drug use motivational perceptions within the four stages. First, approximately 13,000 Young People Survey (Jones, 1986) respondents were classified into the four ego-identity stages for each of two domains, Interpersonal and Ideological (Grotevant & Adams, 1984), according to rules suggested by Adams (1979). A random sample of approximately 200 of these respondents was then selected for the analyses for each of eight categories: Interpersonal achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion; and Ideological achievement, moratorium, foreclosure, and diffusion. Subject responses to two survey questions were analyzed for the first research question. One survey question had asked the students why they thought people their age used drugs and alcohol, the second survey question asked students who had not used alcohol why they had not done so. The eight analyses revealed that the reported motivations were significantly different (p < .05) across all four ego-identity stages for both domains. The second research question analyzed responses to the survey question dealing with drug use motivations, and tested whether motivational responses discriminated marijuana users from nonusers within each of the four ego-identity stages. Each analysis produced statistically significant results. For achieved subjects, peers, recreation, and curiosity combined to discriminate marijuana users from nonusers (p < .05). For moratorium subjects, it was peers, recreation, and stress (p < .05). For foreclosed subjects, peers, curiosity, and recreation discriminated between users and nonusers (p < .05); and for diffused subjects, it was peers, boredom, and recreation (p < .05). The study indicates that young people use psychoactive substances for reasons which vary according to their level of ego-identity development (psychosocial maturity). Additionally, the study indicates that adolescent drug use motivations also depend upon their experience with drugs.

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, for the Degree of master of Arts in Clinical psychology. / The aim of the research is to find out whether white male South Africans who Leave high school before completion of their studies differ significantly in the personality domains of neuroticism; extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness, from their counterparts who complete their high school studies. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / AC2017

This study examines in terms of Adlerian Life Style as revealed through Early Recollections, actual and perceived Birth Order, and Family Atmosphere the personality characteristics of adolescent males who have experienced some form of abuse and/or neglect. As part of the study, each subject participated in a structured, tape-recorded interview and each subject reported six early recollections, dreams, or made-up memories. Transcripts of these interviews were given to a panel of Adlerian psychologists who collectively analyzed and interpreted the subjects' information. They formulated a life style summary for each subject and combined common themes and personality characteristics to formulate a composite life style summary. Results indicate that Adlerian judges were able to identify several common life style themes and personality characteristics. The most commonly shared attributes were expecting bad things to happen, wanting to be special, and feeling out of control.

Typescript. / Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1990. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 138-151) / Microfiche. / ix, 151 leaves, bound 29 cm

Thesis (Psy.D.) -- Virginia Consortium for Professional Psychology. / Includes bibliography.

The general purpose of this study will be an exploration of the relationships between the self-descriptions of late adolescents, their perceptions of how they think their like-sexed parents would describe them, their social class of origin, and the degree of their implied social mobility. The present study specifically investigates the proposition that as the late adolescent implies an attempt to change his social lass of origin (as measured by Hollingshead’s Two Factor Index of Social Position by obtaining more education and aspiring to a different occupation than his parents) the tested implication is that he feels his parents’ perceptions of him become different form his own, (as measured in both cases by the Adjective Check List developed by Gough and Hielbruner (1965)). Furthermore, this difference will be greater than that perceived by those who are non-mobile. A secondary objective of the study will be to attempt to gain some insight into the nature of social classes in our society. As will be seen in the review of the literature, there are many theories regarding this issue. Two of the most prominent to be discussed will be class specific versus common values orientations. This study will attempt to see which of these two theories the type of data collected for this study will support.

An investigation was undertaken to examine two measures of personality and their utility with adolescent patient populations. The Rorschach, scored using Exner's (1991) Comprehensive System (2nd Ed.), and the Personality Inventory for Youth (PIY; Lachar & Gruber, in press) were explored as to their ability to distinguish inpatients from outpatients, males from females, and diagnostic groups from one another. COP, AG, CDI, DEPI, SCZI, and HVI scores on the Rorschach were utilized, as were the DIS, SOM, FAM, RLTY, WDL, and SSK scores from the PIY.

Over the past ten years there has been a dramatic increase in the number of drug addicted teens in this country. Accompanying this increase in drug usage of adolescents has been an rise in the number of treatment and evaluation centers to serve the adolescent drug abusing population. Comprehensive and individualized assessment of drug addicted teens is needed as the basis for adolescent treatment programs. Many adolescent drug treatment programs have relied primarily on in-house, informal questionnaires to assess personality traits. There is a need for more objective measures to assess personality traits in adolescent drug addicted populations. This study used information from intake interviews of 842 inpatient adolescents and examined the amount of drug use in relationship to; personality, negative life events (number of times arrested for drugs, number of times runaway from home, number of suicide attempts, and substance abuse) and gender. Personality was assessed using the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). This study family history of decreased the complexity of interpreting MMPI results by reducing the scores to categories reflective of two common personality traits found in drug addicted populations - introversion and extroversion. Codetypes, which reflect the subjects two most heightened clinical MMPI scales, were also utilized in this study. In this investigation personality traits of introversion and extroversion were not found to be related to amount of drug use, or gender. A heightened scale 4 (Psychopathic Deviate) was consistently found in this sample of adolescent drug abusers. Gender differences were found in membership in codetype group and in terms of total amount of drug use. Females who reported a maternal family history of substance abuse were more likely to use greater amounts of drugs than males with either a maternal or paternal family history of substance abuse. Negative life events were found to differ by gender with females having higher rates of suicide attempts than males, and males having greater number of drug arrests than females. A thorough assessment of maternal drug history for drug addicted females, and treatment modalities focused on personality types who score high on MMPI scale 4, may be important issues to be considered in residential treatment of drug addicted adolescents. / Graduation date: 1993

There is a lack of research based data in the field of learning disabilities, especially at the secondary level. The purpose of this study was to evaluate personality configuration patterns and vocational interests through the administration of the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, Abbreviated Version (AV) and the Self-Directed Search, Form E (EASY) for learning disabled (LD) and non-learning disabled (NLD) students. The sample included 90 LD students and 100 Non-LD students grades 9 through 12 in a large suburban school system. Research questions considered: (1) differences in personality and vocational interest between LD and NLD students; (2) age and gender of LD and NLD students in relationship to vocational interests; (3) relationship between personality patterns and vocational interests between LD and NLD students. Treatment of the data used both descriptive and inferential statistical analyses. Analyses relied on categorical data, and the chi-square test was the statistical test used. Demographics provided data on groups regarding ability level and reading achievement scores related to occupational preferences and gender characteristics. Results indicated that no significant personality differences existed between LD and NLD adolescents. It was found, after looking at all possible interactions between vocational preferences and personality, age, grade, and gender, that significant differences occurred with gender and vocational preferences for both LD/NLD groups. Additionally, EI and TF differences in vocational preferences existed for LD and NLD students. EI and TF differences between LD and NLD career preference showed LD I's and T's prefer mechanical careers, whereas NLD I's and T's prefer teaching and sales. This is correlated with gender preference of LD males for mechanical (non interactive careers), whereas NLD prefer interactive careers / Ed. D.