Chinese male addicts’ drug craving and their global and contingent self-esteem

In this study we investigated the relationships among Chinese male addicts’ drug craving and their global and contingent self-esteem. Drug addicts (N = 195) at a compulsory rehabilitation center in Zhuhai, South China, completed the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Self-Esteem Contingent Scale, Sensation Seeking Scale V, and a scale of drug craving for addicts who have withdrawn physically from the drug, but who have not received any behavior support or counseling. The results indicated that male drug addicts’ global self-esteem correlated negatively with drug craving whereas their contingent self-esteem correlated positively with drug craving. After controlling for other variables, drug craving was still significantly predicted by global self-esteem and contingent self-esteem. Those addicts with low global and high contingent self-esteem recorded the highest scores for level of drug craving, and those with high global but low contingent self-esteem had the lowest scores.