Primary socialization theory. The role played by personal traits in the etiology of drug use and deviance. II.
Primary socialization theory proposes that drug use and deviant behaviors emerge from interactions with the primary socialization sources--the family, the school, and peer clusters. The theory further postulates that the individual's personal characteristics and personality traits do not directly relate to drug use and deviance, but, in nearly all cases, influence those outcomes only when they affect the interactions between the individual and the primary socialization sources. Interpretation of research results from the point of view of primary socialization theory suggests the following: 1) Characteristics such as depression, anxiety, and low self-esteem are related to drug use and deviance only when they have strong effects on the primary socialization process, i.e., among younger children; 2) Traits such as anger, aggression, and sensation seeking are related to drug use and deviance because these traits are more likely to influence the primary socialization process at all ages; 3) The psychopathologies that are least likely to interfere with bonding with prosocial socialization sources, the anxieties and most of the affective disorders, are less likely to have comorbidity drug dependence; and 4) Psychopathologies such as oppositional disorder, conduct disorder, attention deficit disorder, and antisocial personality are more likely to interfere with primary socialization, and the literature shows that these syndromes are also most likely to have a dual diagnosis with drug dependency.
Oetting
E R
ER
Tri-Ethnic Center for Prevention Research, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, USA. goetting@lamar.colostate.edu
Deffenbacher
J L
JL
Donnermeyer
J F
JF
D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002648:Child; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D006801:Humans; D007604:Juvenile Delinquency / Q000523:psychology; D010379:Peer Group; D010551:Personality / Q000235:genetics; D010553:Personality Development; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012925:Social Conformity; D012931:Social Environment; D012951:Socialization; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy