Correlates of sensation seeking by heavy, chronic drug users

Product-moment correlations among number of drugs used and several measures of constructs related to sensation seeking were examined for four matched groups of chronic drug users and two supplementary groups of nine persons each. Number of drugs used correlated positively with all scores on the Sensation Seeking Scales, the Extraversion and Neuroticism Scales of the Eysenck Personality Inventory, and the Change Seeker Index. The pattern is consistent with the proposition that a need for stimulation or change underlies experimentation with a large number of chemical substances. The general pattern of correlations among tests resembled that reported by other investigators. The construct validity of the General Score from the Sensation Seeking Scales is enhanced by these findings. The data suggest that this score measures much the same construct as the Change Seeker Index.