Internalizing and externalizing personality and subjective effects in a sample of adolescent cannabis users Personalidad internalizante y externalizante y efectos subjetivos en una muestra de adolescentes consumidores de cánnabis

Resumen ADICCIONES, 2016 · VOL. 28 NO. 4 · PAGES 231-241 231 original adicciones vol. 28, no 4 · 2016 Received: September 2015; Accepted: January 2016. Send correspondence to: Josep L. Matalí. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, c/ Santa Rosa s/n, 08950 – Esplugues de Llobregat (Barcelona), España. Telephone: +34 93 280 40 00, Fax:+34 93 600 94 54. Mail: [email protected] Internalizing and externalizing personality and subjective effects in a sample of adolescent cannabis users Personalidad internalizante y externalizante y efectos subjetivos en una muestra de adolescentes consumidores de cánnabis Sara García-Sánchez*, Josep Lluís Matalí*, María Martín-Fernández*, Marta Pardo*, Maria Lleras*, Carmina Castellano-Tejedor**, Josep Maria Haro***. *Unidad de Conductas Adictivas. Servicio de Psiquiatría y Psicología de la infancia y la adolescencia. Hospital Sant Joan de Déu. Barcelona CIBERSAM. **Departamento de Psiquiatría. Hospital Universitari Vall d’Hebron. Barcelona CIBERSAM. ***Research Unit, Parc Sanitari Sant Joan de Déu, Sant Boi de Llobregat, Spain; Faculty of Medicine, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain; CIBERSAM. Cannabis is the illicit substance most widely used by adolescents. Certain personality traits such as impulsivity and sensation seeking, and the subjective effects experienced after substance use (e.g. euphoria or relaxation) have been identified as some of the main etiological factors of consumption. This study aims to categorize a sample of adolescent cannabis users based on their most dominant personality traits (internalizing and externalizing profile). Then, to make a comparison of both profiles considering a set of variables related to consumption, clinical severity and subjective effects experienced. From a cross-sectional design, 173 adolescents (104 men and 69 women) aged 13 to 18 asking for treatment for cannabis use disorder in an Addictive Behavior Unit (UCAD) from the hospital were recruited. For the assessment, an ad hoc protocol was employed to register consumption, the Millon Adolescent Clinical Inventory (MACI) and the Addiction Research Center Inventory (ARCI) 49item short form were also administered. Factor analysis suggested a two-profile solution: Introverted, Inhibited, Doleful, Dramatizing (-), Egotistic (-), Self-demeaning and Borderline tendency scales composed the internalizing profile, and Submissive (-), Unruly, Forceful, Conforming (-) and Oppositional scales composed the externalizing profile. The comparative analysis showed that the internalizing profile has higher levels of clinical severity and more subjective effects reported than the externalizing profile. These results suggest the need to design specific intervention strategies for