To thine own self be true: Self-concept and motivation for abstinence among substance abusers

Individuals approved for public-sector addiction treatment were interviewed regarding their reasons for attempting abstinence. Follow-up interviews we re completed 3 to 6 months after participants' removal from county-controll ed treatment wait-lists. Rates of continuous self-reported abstinence for 9 0 days preceding follow-up were positively associated with motivation linke d to discrepancies between substance use and self-standards. Characteristic s associated with high identity-linked motivation were cocaine preference, a history of reducing self-dissatisfaction through substance use, low rewar ds and high costs associated with using, and low support for the user ident ity among significant others. The perception of dis discrepancies between s ubstance use and self-standards was an effective motivator of abstinence ev en among those who reported previous use of substances to dampen self-dissa tisfaction. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd.