Psychological Analysis of Reactive-Proactive Coping of Drug-Dependent Men

Abstract

Difficulties in the rehabilitation and treatment of drug addicts are associated with the peculiarities of their behavior, which are a consequence of a change in their personality. The author conducted an empirical study on two groups of drug-dependent men with a combined form of drug addiction at the stage of treatment (n=30) and rehabilitation with a remission period of about a year (n=30); healthy male volunteers (n=30) acted as a control group. The study was conducted on the basis of the Regional Clinical Psychiatric Hospital, Khabarovsk Territory, Department of Medical Rehabilitation for people with drug addiction disorders in Khabarovsk. All men participating in the study had a higher education, a family, and the average age of all subjects was 32 ± 10.1 years. The study used: Kellerman-Plutchik's “Life style Index” methods (adapted by Wasserman L.I., Eryshev O.F., Klubova E.B. et al., 2005); coping test by Lazarus R. and Folkman S. (adapted by T.L. Kryukova, Kuftyak E.V., Zamishlyaeva M.S., 2005); questionnaire “Proactive coping behavior” Greenglass E., Schwarzer R. et al. (adapted by Belinskaya E.P., Vecherin A.V., Agadullina E.R., 2018). The main features of reactive-proactive coping in groups of drug addicts are defined: in the first group, coping is emotionally-oriented and cognitive-oriented in nature with a focus on social and emotional support, the protection mechanisms “denial”, “projection”, “substitution”, “intellectualization” prevail; in the second group, the intensity of avoidance strategies in combination with proactive overcoming without a focus on external support is identified, intellectual defenses are combined with strategies for reflective analysis. The main differences between the two groups of drug addicts are in the nature of the relationship between defense mechanisms and reactive-proactive coping strategies, in the variation of reactive strategies and their orientation, in the features of building proactive behavior. Understanding the features of reactive-proactive coping with drug addicts can greatly facilitate the work of a psychologist in remedial and rehabilitation activities with patients focused on life planning during remission.