A Comparative Study: Psychological Maladjustment between Drug Addicts and Non Drug Addicts in Peshawar

The present research was conducted to explore the degree of psychological adjustment/maladjustment among male drug addicts in Peshawar. For this purpose, a representative sample of 200 participants (N=200) including 100 drug addicts, having age-range of M=32.83 and SD=8.90, selected from Khyber Teaching Hospital, Peshawar and Dost Welfare Foundation, Peshawar, whereas, 100 non-drug addicts, with age-range of M=26.80 and SD=4.45, were selected from general population. It was observed that majority of the drug addicts were uneducated and belonged to low socioeconomic class. To obtain reliable results, both the study groups were matched in terms of age, level of education, and employment status. The demographic information of the participants was recorded using personal data sheet devised by the researcher. For the assessment of psychological adjustment/maladjustment of both groups, Urdu version of Personality Assessment Questionnaire (Riaz, 2011) was administered which was originally developed in English language by Rohner and Khaleque (2008). The results showed higher level of psychological maladjustment among drug addicts as compared to non-drug addicts. Furthermore, significant difference between the two groups on total score of PAQ (p < .001) was also evident in the study. It was concluded that drug addicts suffered from severe psychological distress in terms of aggression/hostility, dependency, low self-adequacy, emotional instability, emotional unresponsiveness, and negative worldview.