Defeated and Joyless: Potential Measures of Change in Drug Abuser Characteristics

Defeated and Joyless scales were developed from a questionnaire given to 54 normal, 53 alcoholic, and 28 opiate addict subjects. The Defeated scale differentiates the alcoholics and addicts from normals but not from each other, whereas the Joyless scale differentiates addicts from both alcoholics and normals. When shown to 48 college students, a film about poverty increased the Joyless score, as well as other measures, but had little effect on the Defeated score. These scales appear to distinguish between self-concept (Defeated) and mood (Joyless) components of hypophoria, an affective disorder hypothesized to be associated with drug abuse.