Personality-based subgroup identification and psychological symptom patterns in adolescent male new psychoactive substance users: implications for targeted intervention
Abstract
Adolescent new psychoactive substance (NPS) users represent a high-risk population with complex psychological needs that remain insufficiently characterized, limiting the development of targeted rehabilitation interventions. This study aimed to (1) characterize the personality trait profiles and psychological symptom patterns of adolescent NPS users undergoing compulsory drug rehabilitation relative to normative standards; (2) identify empirically derived personality-based subgroups within this population; and (3) examine differential psychological symptom patterns across identified subgroups to inform precision intervention design. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 60 adolescent male participants (mean age = 17.2 ± 1.9 years) recruited from a compulsory drug rehabilitation facility in Shandong Province, China. Participants completed a multimodal assessment battery comprising Cattell’s 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF), the Personality Diagnostic Questionnaire-4+ (PDQ-4+), and the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Personality-based subgroups were identified using a two-stage cluster analysis (Ward’s method followed by K-means), with cluster quality evaluated via Average Silhouette Width and split-sample Adjusted Rand Index. Between-cluster differences in psychological symptom profiles were examined using one-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc comparisons. Hierarchical multiple regression identified independent personality predictors of overall…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a cross-sectional, done in people. Its evidence level is 4 of 5 (Low · observational). Observational designs can show an association but not prove cause. Reported size: 60 participants or records.
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