Implicit and Explicit Self-Identification as a Drug User in People Who Used Heroin and Methamphetamine.

Jianyong Chen,Feng Zhang,Mowei Shen,Jifan Zhou,Xinyu Li,Meng Zhang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.685110

Jianyong Chen, Feng Zhang + Show 4 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.685110

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Abstract

Implicit and explicit self-identification as a drug user specific to the substance used (e.g., viewing oneself as a drinker) have been examined, as they relate to that drug use. However, studies have rarely explored whether identifying as a “drug user” differs implicitly and explicitly for people who use different drugs and how this identification relates to drug-use behaviors or abstinence. This study examined implicit and explicit self-identification as a “drug user” and their associations with drug-use behaviors and abstinence in people who used heroin (PWUH) and people who used methamphetamine (PWUM). Forty PWUH and 35 PWUM in a rehabilitation facility completed the single category implicit association test (SC-IAT), which evaluated implicit associations of a “drug user” with “self,” and a measure of explicit self-identification as a “drug user.” Prior drug-use behaviors and current abstinence duration of the participants were assessed. PWUH demonstrated stronger implicit “self + drug user” associations and higher levels of explicit self-identification as a “drug user” than PWUM. A higher frequency of drug use was associated with higher levels of explicit drug-user self-identity, and longer abstinence duration was positively related to stronger implicit “self + drug user” associations in PWUH. The drug type of heroin (vs. methamphetamine) participants used was associated with a higher frequency of use, which, in turn, predicted higher levels of explicit drug-user self-identity. Given that the PWUH group differs from the PWUM group in terms of implicit and explicit self-identification as “drug users,” it would be more appropriate to address drug-user self-identity of individuals according to the substance they use rather than as a collective group.

Highlights

Self-identification as a drug user can put individuals at risk of initiating, sustaining, and relapsing into drug use (Walters, 1996; Avants et al, 2000; Lindgren et al, 2016b)
We explored the associations between abstinence duration in a rehabilitation facility and implicit and explicit self-identity instead of offering a hypothesis because there was less certainty about how these variables would be related
Results of single category implicit association test (SC-Implicit Association Test (IAT)) D-scores revealed that people who used heroin (PWUH) (M = 0.04, SD = 0.31) showed stronger implicit self-identification with “drug users” than people who used methamphetamine (PWUM) (M = −0.16, SD = 0.28), [F(1, 61) = 4.71, p = 0.034, η2p = 0.07]

Summary

Introduction

Self-identification as a drug user can put individuals at risk of initiating, sustaining, and relapsing into drug use (Walters, 1996; Avants et al, 2000; Lindgren et al, 2016b). Addictive behaviors are a joint outcome of implicit and explicit cognitions (Wiers et al, 2007; Stacy and Wiers, 2010). This opinion is supported by the fact that both implicit and explicit cognitions (e.g., implicit and explicit attitudes toward drugs) reliably correlate with drug use (Rooke et al, 2008). Many studies have used the Implicit Association Test (IAT; Greenwald et al, 1998) to examine implicit cognition of drug users (e.g., implicit self-identification as a drinker; Lindgren et al, 2016b) by measuring the relative strength of associations between target concepts (e.g., a drinker vs a non-drinker) and attribute categories (e.g., self vs other).

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