Characteristics and social representation of ecstasy in Europe - Irefrea

3. Disinhibition (DIS): it seems to describe the wish to be free through alcohol, funand sex.4. Boredom susceptibility (BS): it implies a refusal of repeated experiences, boringpeople and no reaction to monotony.We ignore if this scale has been validated in other European countries, but “in itsSpanish version, it offers an alpha reliability similar to the one found in the originalversion of this same scale. The reliability test-retest at intervals of ten days and fiveweeks between administration is acceptable because the total scale coefficients aresuperior to 0,87 and comparable to those presented by other scales of questionnaireswith similar characteristics to this scale” (Robins, 1992).SENSATION SEEKER SCALE AND DRUG USE“Due to the kind of personality associated with the sensation seeker, it is not asurprise that great sensation seekers have more diverse experiences connected with sexand drug use. Perhaps we are insisting too much in the psychopathology of drug use andsex, and not enough on the fact that both are a way of obtaining new experiences(Solowij and Lee, 1991).Several investigations find a consistent relationship between the SSS scale and druguse (Bates, 1986; Zuckerman, 1990; Zuckerman, 1980, Villa Canal, 1996). Luengo(1996) carries out an excellent revision of this literature. Even Zuckerman (1983), in arevision of some investigations, indicates that the sensation seeker scale (especiallysubscales DIS and ES) explains most of the variances of drug use. Also, Jaffe (1987)thinks sensation seeking scale is the most important predictor in comparison with otherpersonality variables and scales. Teichmann (1989) considers sensation seeking has ahigher predictive effect on drug use than depression or anxious characteristics and helpsto identify abstemious, experimental users and all kind of drugs users.We can find two explanations between seeking sensations and drug use. Zuckermanprovides the first one, trying to connect the pharmacological properties of each drugwith his theory, and in a sample composed by 80 drug users found that sensationseeking is interrelated with stimulant and hallucinogenic drugs and, at the same time,sensation seeking would have a negative correlation with depressive drugs. Anotherexplanation, more supported by current data, would be that the sensation seeker is anindividual interested in the changes produced by drugs on personality and behaviour,considering quality a secondary element. Culture and drugs current market goes in thedirection of a poly-consumer and it does not allow individuals to choose a specific drugaccording to his/her personality. Zuckerman (1983) also supports this possibility whenhe says people try to find in drugs a change of their affective state more than specificeffects.Luengo (1996) carries out a longitudinal study during two consecutive years in asample of 1226 adolescents (583 male, 643 female) and finds the magnitude of the76