Shame and guilt activations: Associations and sociodemographic differences among ploysubstance abusers

Najam Ul Hasan Abbasi; Mujahid Iqbal; Yu Yan; Sumaira Mubarik; Muhammad Nadeem; Mehmet Behzat Turan; Romana Younas

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1021876

Shame and guilt activations: Associations and sociodemographic differences among ploysubstance abusers

Front Psychiatry. 2022 Oct 21:13:1021876. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.1021876. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Najam Ul Hasan Abbasi¹, Mujahid Iqbal², Yu Yan², Sumaira Mubarik³, Muhammad Nadeem⁴, Mehmet Behzat Turan⁵, Romana Younas⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Education Sciences, Mianyang University, Mianyang, China.
² Department of Psychology, School of Philosophy, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
³ Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Wuhan University, Wuhan, China.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Lahore, Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan.
⁵ Faculty of Sport Science, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey.
⁶ School of Psychology, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Objectives: Shame and guilt in polysubstance abusers are still understudied despite their significance in substance use disorders (SUD). The goal of the current study is to develop a better understanding of how shame and guilt interact among polysubstance abusers who are receiving residential treatment.

Methods: The sample of two hundred four males with SUD admitted to five rehabilitation centers from two cities in Pakistan participated in this study. For comparison, 215 age-matched healthy individuals were recruited (control). All participants reported their scores on the state shame and guilt scale (SSGS) and demographic form. A cross-sectional study design was adopted.

Results: The group with SUD reported greater activations on SGSS (r = 0.79, p < 0.001) as compared to healthy (control) individuals (r = 0.48, p < 0.001). Further, multivariate analysis indicated that people with SUD who were of older age, unemployed, living in a nuclear family system, with a higher level of education, and low income, experienced higher levels of shame and guilt. Multinomial logistic regression analysis revealed that people with SUD in the age group 41-60 years (OR 5.2, 95%CI 2.4-6.8), unemployed (OR 4.4, 95%CI 3.2-4.7), nuclear family system (OR 5.9, 95%CI 4.5-6.4) and low monthly income group (OR 5.4, 95%CI 3.5-5.8) had a significantly high risk of shame and guilt than the control group.

Conclusion: Findings of the current study indicate an association between shame and guilt activation and SUD. These results suggest that polysubstance users may benefit from therapeutic interventions to avoid a generalization of shame and guilt toward their substance use. Reducing shame and guilt should be considered a priority in treating adults with multiple SUD.

Keywords: guilt-activation; healthy individuals; inpatient treatment; polysubstance abusers; shame-activation.