Sensation seeking and high risk behaviour among alcohol dependent patients

Abstract

Objective: To study the relationship between sensation seeking and high risk behaviour in alcohol dependent patients. Introduction: Several studies have indicated the role of sensation seeking as a personality construct in explaining the relationship between the alcohol use and sexual risk taking. The high sensation seeking behaviour predicted a willingness and inclination to take risks as well as future alcohol use. Aim: To study the association between sensation seeking and the high risk behaviour among patients with alcohol dependence syndrome. Materials and Methods: A cross sectional study carried out on 178 men and 22 women alcohol dependent patients admitted to Psychiatry ward of Mamata Medical College and General Hospital, Khammam (TS), India. The study period was 15 months, from January 2011 to April 2012. The instruments used for selection of sample were ICD-10, CIWA-AD and MMSE. The tools used for collection of data were; Sensation Seeking Scale–Form V (Indian Adaptation), Severity of Alcohol Dependence Questionnaire (SOADQ), High Risk Behaviour Questionnaire (HRBQ), Barratt’s Impulsiveness Scale (BIS-II) version II. Results: Significant association was found between high risk behaviour and sensation seeking behaviour (p value-0.000). The one way ANOVA showed no significant influence of SSS scores on high or low impulsivity of the sample (p values- 0.500>0.05 and 0.195>0.05). Conclusion: The patients scoring high on certain personality constructs such as sensation seeking and impulsivity are vulnerable to indulge in high risk behaviour. Keywords: Sensation seeking, Alcohol dependence, High risk behaviour, Personality constructs, Impulsivity.