Heroin Users’ Motivation and Social Networks

Many factors are involved when an individual makes the decision to cease heroin/opiate use. Motivation is a key factor when individuals are making the decision to abstain, and predicts if an individual will finish a treatment program. Heroin/opiate users have high relapse rates therefore, it’s important to analyze variables affecting motivation. Therapeutic communities show improvement in retention through social support, thus showing the importance of social networks. The purpose of this study is to see if social networks influence a person’s motivation overtime. We used waves one and five from an NIH funded longitudinal study, containing 270 individuals entering a substance abuse treatment post-incarceration. The CMR was used to collect motivational scores and the Important Person Index was used to analyze a person’s social network. A Paired samples t-test was conducted to compare motivation scores from wave one to wave five. There was a significant difference in motivation scores for wave one (M=22.44, SD=2.60) and motivation scores (M=19.90, SD=4.66) from wave five; t(84)=4.818, p=.000. There were no significant differences in a person’s social networks from waves one and five. Future research is needed to investigate how changes in social networks affect motivation.https://via.library.depaul.edu/psychologynight/1025/thumbnail.jp