PSYCHOSOCIAL ISSUE IN DRUG ABUSERS: A PSYCHOMETRIC APPROACH

Abstract

Psychosocial challenges are prevalent in individuals struggling with substance abuse. The present study aims to develop a measure of Psycho-social issues of Drug Abusers by exploring the experience and manifestation in Pakistani culture. An open-ended interview approach was used to generate 33 items from 14 male participants aged 18-26 in the first phase of scale development. A pilot study was conducted on a sample of 10 male participants after content validation of a self-report measure of Psychosocial Issues. Furthermore, 150 male participants (18-26 years old, M=22.62; SD=1.74) were selected from government and private universities for psychometric testing of the Psycho-social Issue Scale (PIS) and Interpersonal Difficulty Scale. Based on the Promax Rotation Factor Analysis, the Psycho-social Issue Scale (PIS) is divided into two factors: Social Disruption and Personal Disruption. An analysis of the PIS indicated that it was internally consistent, construct valid, and reliable. Based on the Pakistani cultural context, findings are discussed in terms of factorial structure.