title: SELF-REPORTS OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITY, SCL-90-R PERSONALITY SCALES, AND URINE TESTS IN METHADONE PATIENTS.
abstract: In routine work, medical staff usually has to rely on the patient's self-reports of criminal activity and of recent involvement in fights. This study examines how these self-reports of crime correlate with the patients' routine urine tests and personality measures. Pearson correlations of these self-reports by 55 methadone patients (M age = 34.1 yr., SD = 9.1; 35 men, 20 women) were calculated to their urine screening tests (those for opiates, benzodiazepines, and cocaine) and to personality scores on the Symptom Checklist 90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Patients who reported being involved in recent illegal activities to obtain drugs had significantly higher scores on the SCL-90-R scale assessing obsessive-compulsive symptoms (r = .28) and had more frequent positive urine tests for cocaine (r = .35). Those who reported having engaged in fights within the last 12 mo. had higher scores on SCL-90-R measures of somatic complaints (r = .32), anxiety (r = .31), and depression (r = .29), and of overall psychopathology (r = .29), and they also had more often positive urine tests for cocaine (r = .28) than other patients. Studies on larger samples are needed to help clinicians to predict criminal or hostile behavior during methadone treatment.
authors.affiliation: 1 Methadone Clinic, London, Ontario.|2 Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario.
authors.forename: Zack
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Cernovsky
authors.affiliation: 1 Methadone Clinic, London, Ontario.
authors.forename: Gamal
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sadek
authors.affiliation: 2 Department of Psychiatry, University of Western Ontario.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chiu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002170:Canada / Q000453:epidemiology; D057189:Checklist / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003042:Cocaine / Q000652:urine*; D003415:Crime / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000652:urine; D008691:Methadone / Q000652:urine; D008875:Middle Aged; D058850:Opiate Substitution Treatment; D010554:Personality Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000652:urine; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D003042:Cocaine; D008691:Methadone