title: Motivation to withdraw from heroin: a factor-analytic study.
abstract: A 30-item motivation scale and a locus of control scale were given to 165 heroin users within the first 2 days of a new attempt to withdraw from heroin. Factor analysis of the motivation items revealed three factors, the largest of which was labelled 'private affairs motivation' (factor one), and accounted for 26.5% of the variance. A significant positive correlation was found between scores on this factor and the I sub-scale for locus of control. The other two factors were labelled 'external constraints' (7.2% of the variance) and 'negative effects of heroin use' (6.6% of the variance). There was a tendency for subjects attending community drug teams to have lower scores on these factors than those attending other types of agencies, especially in-patient detoxification wards. Further research is required to examine the relationship between the different motivations to withdraw from heroin and other important variables such as withdrawal outcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Psychology, University of Liverpool, UK.
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Murphy
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Bentall
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006556:Heroin Dependence / Q000523:psychology / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011594:Psychometrics