El patrón de conducta tipo A y su relación con conductas adictivas

Abstract

The main objective of this research was to evaluate the possible correlation between Type A Behavior Pattern (PCTA) among young people of the province of Cordoba (Spain) with the possibility of presenting addictions. We evaluate addictions with substances, such as tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, tranquilizers, cocaine, and hallucinogens. We also evaluate behavioral addictions, such as abusive use of the Internet, gambling, shopping, and mobile phone. A prospective ex-post-facto design and an ad hoc questionnaire were applied, in addition to other complementary questionnaires, such as the Addiction to Shopping Test, the Internet Addiction Test of Echeburúa (2003), the Brief Questionnaire on Pathological Gambling of Fernández- Montalvo, Echeburúa and Baéz (1997), and some items on mobile phone use, and the PCTA Questionnaire of Jenkins (1992). Data were collected from 3815 young people from the province of Córdoba (Spain) in a range of age between 18 and 29 years old. The results revealed that the different dimensions of JASE-H (impatience, hostility, competitiveness and labor overload) in the studied young people are all significantly related to the PCTA (p <0.05). This PCTA people showed the highest consumption of tobacco, alcohol, cannabis, tranquilizers, cocaine and hallucinogens. In addition, they buy, play, connect to the Internet and use the mobile more than others. We verified a greater risk of young people with PCTA presenting certain addictions than young people with PCTB. In order to include most of the participants in the analysis, we opted for a Cluster analysis based on the personality variables that characterize the PCTA: impatience, hostility, competitiveness and labor overload. We found that the PCTA traits correlate positively with increased consumption of addictive substances and with behavioral addictions, leading to a greater risk of young people with PCTA developing problematic consumption or an addictive disorder than those with PCTB. We consider that research on which variables influence the onset and maintenance of substance use or addictive behaviors will contribute to the construction of better prevention and intervention strategies in the general population.