Drug abuse severity in adolescents is associated with magnitude of deviation in temperament traits.

Substance abusing adolescents were discriminated from normal controls on seven of the nine scales comprising the revised Dimensions of Temperament Scales. However, upon aggregating the scales into orthogonal dimensions using factor analysis, it was found that only activity level was associated with drug use severity. This behavioural trait was correlated with seven of 10 scales comprising the Drug Use Screening Inventory, including severity of substance use, behavior problems, psychiatric disorder, work, peer relationships and leisure activities.