PERSONALITY TRAITS, EMOTIONAL COMPETENCY AND SELF-ESTEEM IN SUBSTANCE USERS AND NON-USERS

Abstract

The present study examines the personality traits, emotional competency and self-esteem in young adults who are using illegal substance. These psychological factors are important identifying factors as they can help in the early detection and prevention of substance use in at risk individuals. Although, there are many researches examining the personality traits and self-esteem of drug users but very few researches examine the emotional competency in drug users as well as these three factors combined. This study investigates the five dimensions of personality namely Openness, Conscientiousness, Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism, the Emotional Competency of drug using young adults and their self-esteem. A non-experimental between subject design was used and through purposive sampling a sample size of 300 young adults between the ages of 18 years to 25 years, currently studying in any university, was collected. The results showed that drug users scored significantly lower ( Mean = 23.51) on the self-esteem scale and higher on one of the emotional competency subscales EPE ( Enhancement of Positive emotions) ( Mean = 20.81) .Evaluating the personality traits, Non-Drug users scored higher on Conscientiousness ( Mean = 28.92) as compared to Drug users ( Mean = 26.69) while there was no significant difference among other personality dimensions. These results indicate that Non-drug users have better coping mechanisms as compared to Drug-users who engage in maladaptive behavioral patterns. This study contributes to clinical psychology by providing insights into the psychological profiles of young adults at risk, advocating for interventions that focus on emotional regulation, self-esteem, and personality development.