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Concepts of drugs: differences in conceptual structure across groups with different levels of drug experience
Author(s) -
FABRICIUS WILLIAM V.,
NAGOSHI CRAIG T.,
MACKIN DAVID P.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
addiction
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.424
H-Index - 193
eISSN - 1360-0443
pISSN - 0965-2140
DOI - 10.1111/j.1360-0443.1997.tb02954.x
Subject(s) - drug , heroin , psychology , intoxicative inhalant , amphetamine , psychological intervention , pharmacology , hallucinogen , illicit drug , lysergic acid diethylamide , clinical psychology , psychiatry , medicine , toxicology , neuroscience , dopamine , biology , receptor , serotonin
Seventy‐seven college students varying in degree of drug use experience rated the perceived similarities of all possible combinations of 16 drug classes (cigarettes, other tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, barbiturates, minor and major tranquilizers, amphetamines, amphetamine derivatives, cocaine, heroin, opiates, hallucinogens, inhalants, PCP, anti‐depressants). Multidimensional scaling (INDSCAL) and network models (PFNET) indicated that abstainers had only one pharmacological category involving sedatives/depressants, and that they attached more importance to whether drugs were licit vs. illicit than to whether they were depressants vs. stimulants. Conceptions became more coherent, differentiated and based on pharmacological properties for more experienced drug users. In line with previous work, groups with greater experience with drugs had more sophisticated conceptions not only about the drugs they had used, but also about drugs they had not used. These findings suggest that early on in drug behavior sophisticated and interrelated concepts are developing that should be taken into account when designing interventions and information campaigns.