Veronica Rivas, Alexa N. Knippenberg, Miracle M. Burgos, Dr. Tara Bautista 

Sponsor or Client: 

Title:

The Future of Substance Use Research: Personality and Spirituality

Abstract:

In the United States (US), substance use is a prevalent issue, with 20.4 million people diagnosed with substance use disorder in 2019. Drug overdose deaths are on the rise in the US, reaching 106,699 deaths in 2021. Substance use is associated with negative health effects and risky behaviors. Personality characteristics and spirituality could help explain the early initiation of substance use. Previous literature highlights associations between personality traits and drug use – high neuroticism with drug misuse, high extraversion with cocaine/crack stimulant drug use, low agreeableness with cocaine/crack and illicit drugs, and openness to experience with cannabis use. Conscientiousness did not have an association with drug use. Among college students, spirituality is negatively associated with alcohol and cannabis use. There is a lack of understanding of what specific aspects of spirituality contribute to an individual’s use of substances, as well as how personal traits could align with spirituality. The field of psychology would benefit from therapies and interventions that are tailored for individuals with various types of spirituality and personality characteristics to improve precision medicine. Within therapy practice, knowing the client’s personality characteristics and their spirituality adds to providing care for the client.