PERSONALITY TRAITS, INTERPERSONAL DIFFICULTIES AND MENTAL HEALTH PROBLEMS OF KHAT USERS AND NON-KHAT USERS: A COMPARATIVE STUDY
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE: To find the differences between Khat users and non-Khat users on the basis of personality traits, interpersonal difficulties and mental health problems.
METHODS: A cross-sectional research design was used, and the sample was selected from undergraduate university students through a mixed sample technique. There was an approximately equal number of all four years of undergraduate students in the sample out of which 247 of the sample were Khat users and 94 were non-Khat users (control variable). All the participants were male and aged between 18 to 25 years. The scales used were Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ), newly developed Khat Interpersonal Difficulties Scale (KIDS), and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS). A debriefing session was carried out at the end of each testing and participants were asked for any inquiry, question and feedback. SPSS version 21.0 was used to analyze the data.
RESULTS: Results revealed mean age of Khat users as 23.03±2.01, while non-Khat users had 21.44±1.71. Khat user students scored higher on neuroticism (t[339]=4.45, p<0.001), psychoticism (t[339]=2.92, p<0.001) and tend to experience more interpersonal difficulties (t[339]=11.83, p<0.001) and more mental health problems (t[339]=11.67, p<0.001) as compared to non-Khat users. Multiple regression analysis found a strong positive relationship between personality traits (neuroticism and psychoticism) with interpersonal difficulties (β=31, 28, respectively p<0.001) and mental health problems (β=28, 35, respectively p<0.001) as well.
CONCLUSION: Khat use is related to a high score on neuroticism and psychoticism and the experience of more interpersonal difficulties and mental health problems.
KEY WORDS: Extroversion (MeSH); Neuroticism (MeSH); Psychoticism (Non-MeSH); Personality (MeSH); Interpersonal difficulties (Non-MeSH); Depression (MeSH); Catha (MeSH); Khat (MeSH); Mental Health (MeSH); Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (Non-MeSH); Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (Non-MeSH); Khat Interpersonal Difficulties Scale (Non-MeSH)
Article Details
Work published in KMUJ is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic License.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online
(e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
References
REFERENCES
Odenwald M, Al’Absi MN. Khat use and related addiction, mental health and physical disorders: the need to address a growing risk. East Mediterr Health J 2017; 23(3): 236-44. DOI: 10.26719/2017.23.3.236.
Getahun A, Krikorian AD. Chat: coffee’s rival from Harar, Ethiopia. I. Botany, cultivation and use. Econ Bot 1973; 27(4): 353-77. DOI: 10.1007/BF02860690.
Wabe NT. Chemistry, pharmacology, and toxicology of Khat (cathaedulisforsk): a review. Addict Health 2011; 3(3-4):137-49.
Basker GV. A review on hazards of Khat chewing. Int J Pharm Pharm Sci 2013; 5(3): 74-7.
Mega TA, Dabe NE. Khat (Catha Edulis) as a risk factor for cardiovascular disorders: systematic review and meta-analysis. Open Cardiovasc Med J 2017;11:146-55. DOI: 10.2174/1874192401711010146.
Mwenda JM, Arimi MM, Kyama MC, Langat DK. Effects of Khat (Catha edulis) consumption on reproductive functions: a review. East Afr Med J 2003; 80(6): 318-23. DOI: 10.4314/eamj.v80i6.8709
Nakajima M, Jebena MG, Taha M, Tesfaye M, Gudina E, Lemieux A, et al. Correlates of Khat use during pregnancy: a cross-sectional study. Addict Behav 2017; 73: 178-84. DOI: 10.1016/j.addbeh.2017.05.008.
Hassan NA, Gunaid AA, El-Khally FM, Murray-Lyon IM. The effect of chewing Khat leaves on human mood. Saudi Med J 2002; 23(7): 850-3.
Nakajima M, Dokam A, Kasim AN, Alsoofi M, Khalil NS, al’Absi M. Habitual Khat and concurrent Khat and tobacco use are associated with subjective sleep quality. Prev Chronic Dis 2014; 11(5): 1-8. DOI: 10.5888/pcd11.130234.
Al'Absi M, Khalil NS, Al Habori M, Hoffman R, Fujiwara K, Wittmers L. Effects of chronic Khat use on cardiovascular, adrenocortical, and psychological responses to stress in men and women. Am J Addict 2013; 22(2): 99-107. DOI: 10.1111/j.1521-0391.2013.00302.x.
Hoffman R, al’Absi M. Working memory and speed of information processing in chronic Khat users: preliminary findings. Eur Addict Res 2012; 19(1): 1-6. DOI: 10.1159/000338285.
Mohamed J, Ibrahim Y. Diverse effects of Khat on Somali families [dissertation]. Gävle: University College of Gävle; 2012.
Hansen P. The ambiguity of Khat in Somaliland. J Ethnopharmacol 2010; 132(3): 590-9. DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2010.02.028.
Sutan R, Al-Dubai SA, Aljunid SM. Family context and Khat chewing among adult yemeni women: a cross-sectional study. Biomed Res Int 2014; 2014:1-6. DOI: 10.1155/2014/505474.
Odenwald M, Hinkel H, Schauer E, Neuner F, Schauer M, Elbert TR, Rockstroh B. The consumption of Khat and other drugs in Somali combatants: a cross-sectional study. PLoS Med 2007; 4(12):1959-1972. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0040341.
World Health Organization. A situation analysis of mental health in Somalia. 2010. Available from URL: http://www.mhinnovation.net/sites/default/files/downloads/innovation/reports/A-SA-of-MH-in-Somalia.pdf63.
Hair JF, Black WC, Babin BJ, Anderson RE. Multivariate data analysis: a global perspective. (7th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson; 2010.
Daud AH, Mahmood Z. Personality traits, interpersonal difficulties, and mental health problems of Somalian Khat users: an intervention study. Unpublished Dissertation, Institute of Clinical Psychology, University of Management and Technology, Lahore, Pakistan.
Barkham M, Hardy GE, Startup M. The IIP‐32: a short version of the Inventory of Interpersonal Problems. Br J Clin Psychol 1996; 35(1): 21-35. DOI: 10.1111/j.2044-8260.1996.tb01159.x.
Eysenck SB, Eysenck HJ, Barrett P. A revised version of the psychoticism scale. Pers Individ Dif 1985; 6(1): 21-9. DOI: 10.1016/0191-8869(85)90026-1.
Aiken LR. Assessment of personality. Needham Heights: Allyn & Bacon; 1989
Lovibond SH, Lovibond PF. Manual for the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales. 2nd ed. Sydney: Psychology Foundation; 1995.
Beck AT, Steer RA, Brown GK. Manual for Beck Depression Inventory-II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation; 1996.
Beck AT, Epstein N, Brown G, Steer RA. An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: psychometric properties. J Consult Clin Psychol 1988; 56(6): 893-7. DOI: 10.1037/0022-006X.56.6.893.
Sahasi G, Chawla HM, Bhushan B, Kacker C. Eysenck's personality questionnaire scores of heroin addicts in India. Indian J Psychiatry 1990; 32(1): 25-29.
Gossop MR, Eysenck SB. A comparison of the personality of drug addicts in treatment with that of a prison population. Pers Individ Dif 1983; 4(2), 207-9. DOI: 10.1016/0191-8869(83)90023-5.
Blaszczynski AP, Buhrich N, McConaghy N. Pathological gamblers, heroin addicts and controls compared on the EPQ ‘Addiction Scale’. Addiction 1985; 80(3): 315-9. DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1985.tb02545.x.
Spielberger CD, Jacobs GA. Personality and smoking behavior. J Pers Assess 1982; 46(4): 396-403. DOI: 10.1207/s15327752jpa4604_11.
Strug DL, Hyman MM. Social networks of alcoholics. J Stud Alcohol 1981; 42(9): 855-84. DOI: 10.15288/jsa.1981.42.855.
Hanson BS. Social network, social support and heavy drinking in elderly men‐a population study of men born in 1914, Malmö, Sweden. Addiction 1994; 89(6): 725-32. DOI: 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1994.tb00958.x.
Skinner HA. The drug abuse screening test. Addict Behav 1982; 7(4): 363-71. DOI: 10.1016/0306-4603(82)90005-3.
Leach D, Kranzler HR. An interpersonal model of addiction relapse. Addict Disord Their Treat 2013; 12(4): 183-92. DOI: 10.1097/ADT.0b013e31826ac408.
Ahmadi J, Toobaee R, Kharras M, Radmehr M. Psychiatric disorders in opioid dependents. J Dual Diagn 2002; 8(1): 37-45. DOI: 10.1300/J034v08n01_03.
Roberts A. Psychiatric comorbidity in white and African-American illicit substance abusers: evidence for differential etiology. Clin Psychol Rev 2000; 20(5): 667-77. DOI: 10.1016/S0272-7358(99)00020-3.
Goeders NE. Stress, motivation, and drug addiction. Curr Dir Psychol Sci 2004; 13(1): 33-5. DOI: 10.1111/j.0963-7214.2004.01301009.x.
Khantzian EJ. The self-medication hypothesis of substance use disorders: reconsideration and recent applications. Harv Rev Psychiatry 1997; 4(5): 231-44. DOI: 10.3109/10673229709030550.
Costa PT, McCrae RR. Four ways five factors are basic. Pers Individ Dif 1992; 13(6): 653-65. DOI: 10.1016/0191-8869(92)90236-I.
Gurtman MB. Personality structure and interpersonal problems: a theoretically-guided tem analysis of the inventory of interpersonal problems. Assessment 1995; 2(4): 343-61. DOI: 10.1177/1073191195002004005.
Nysæter TE, Langvik E, Berthelsen M, Nordvik H. Interpersonal problems and personality traits: the relation between IIP-64C and NEO-FFI. Nord Psychol 2009; 61(3): 82-93. DOI: 10.1027/1901-2276.61.3.82.
McDonald MJ, Linden PD. Interpersonal problems and personality: using three factor solutions. Psychol Rep 2003; 93(2):371-7. DOI: 10.2466/pr0.2003.93.2.371.
Clark LA, Watson D, Mineka S. Temperament, personality, and the mood and anxiety disorders. J Abnorm Psychol 1994; 103(1): 103-16. DOI: 10.1037/0021-843X.103.1.103.
Ying Ge JS, Zhang J. Research on relationship among internet-addiction, personality traits and mental health of urban left-behind children. Glob J Health Sci 2015; 7(4): 60-9. DOI: 10.5539/gjhs.v7n4p60}.