The Relationship Between the Enneagram Personality Types and Health Responsibility in Patients with Substance Use Disorder; a Brief Report

Objectives: The present study aimed at examining the relationship between the Enneagram personality types and health responsibility in patients with substance use disorder (SUD). Methods: The current cross sectional study was conducted on 68 patients with SUD referred to methadone maintenance treatment clinics in Kermanshah city, Western Iran, in September 2017. The Riso-Hudson Enneagram type indicator (RHETI) and subscale of health responsibility from the health promoting lifestyle profile (HPLP-II) were used for data gathering. The obtained data were analyzed using Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analysis. Results: The mean ± SD age of the samples (100% male) was 39.4 ± 13.3 years. The obtained results showed a significant direct relationship between personality types 1 and 3 and health responsibility, while the same relationship was indirect for the personality type 4 (P < 0.05). Despite the inability of the three personality types in predicting health responsibility, the model generally could explain 12.5% of the variance in criterion variable. Conclusions: Probably, screening the personality patterns of patients with SUD using the Enneagram model can be useful to identify vulnerable groups. Since SUD rehabilitation includes long-term formal nursing services, training should be focused on improved health responsibility among risk-taking personalities such as type 4.