Male drug addiction and the Kahn Test of Symbol Arrangement.

Abstract

The present study attempted to evaluate the usefulness of the Kahn Test of Symbol Arrangement (KTSA) for assessing the degree of character disturbance in drug addicts. The KTSA and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) were administered to 40 addicts at the drug unit of the New Jersey Neuro-psychiatric Institute over a 2-mo. period. Evaluation of both semi-objective variables tapping cognitive-associative functioning and objective factors assessing more dynamic features was made. The composite symbol pattern for 40 Ss showed a close correspondence with that determined by past research for “character and behavior disorder” and the resulting diagnosis indicated little discrepancy from that obtained through psychiatric interviewing. The more clinical features of the KTSA generally support the diagnosis of characterological disturbance. In several cases it was felt that neurosis (obsessive-compulsive) and underlying schizophrenic process were more appropriate diagnoses. However, both quantitative and qualitative examination of KTSA performance showed consistently strong trends typically found in most drug addicts.