Resilience, Distress, and Dependence Influence Injection Related Risk among People Who Inject Drugs

This study examines how resilience (measured by the Conner Davidson Resilience Scale) might contribute to reducing risk, specifically in relation to psychological distress (measured by the Kessler 6 scale) and substance dependence (measured by the severity of dependence scale). The aim of this study was to examine the intersection between resilience, psychological distress, and severity of dependence, and how these psychosocial mechanisms might influence injection-related risk behaviors including sharing syringes and other injection equipment. A total of 622 people who inject drugs who live in New Orleans were recruited using respondent-driven sampling as part of the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance. In multiple binary logistic regression analyses, psychological distress was a significant predictor of syringe sharing behavior after controlling for resilience and dependence. Resilience and dependence are independent significant predictors of syringe sharing behavior, which warrants further investigation of how resilience, psychological distress, dependence, and injection-related risk are interrelated. These findings provide a foundation for further research that may inform prevention programs focused on reducing negative health outcomes associated with high-risk injection behaviors.

Source: International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction - June 26, 2018 Category: Addiction Source Type: research