TITLES:

Social Functioning and Self-Esteem of Substance Abuse Patients

AUTHORS:

Filiz Ersöğütçü, Sibel Asi Karakaş

APA

Ersöğütçü, F., & Karakaş, S. A. (2016). Social Functioning and Self-Esteem of Substance

Abuse Patients. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 30(5), 587-592.

doi:10.1016/j.apnu.2016.03.007

SOURCE: ScienceDirect

KEY TERMS USED FOR THE SEARCH:

 Substance Abuse
 Psychiatric Nursing

Guide Questions

1. What is the significance of the research article you have chosen in your RLE?
- My research article is significant to my rle since it would help me learn more about
the lived experiences and views of substance abuse patients in general. Also, with
the recent “drug war” imposed on the Philippines, more and more might be
encouraged to go into rehabilitation with which would mean more patients might
be in treatment for this type or addiction.
2. What are the implications of the findings in your patient care?
- Knowing the self-views and self-esteem of patients would greatly help in the
treatment of the patients. Especially in the establishment of rapport among the
patients. Knowing these factors, the nurse could effectively alter the way in which
they would render care to the patient, knowing whether the patient would be
subjected to which type of attitude by the nurse.
3. What intervention/innovation was used or implemented in the study reviewed?
- An innovation they have done is that they were the first to publish about the
correlation between social functioning and self-esteem.
4. Identify which level of evidence does the selected researches belong to:
a) Social Functioning and Self-Esteem of Substance Abuse Patients
 Level 3
 5. Create a table and answer the following questions to compare the two studies that you
have identified:
Identify the Population of interest, sample
size, and sampling techniques used,
including sample size
appropriateness/sufficiency.
Identify interventions implemented (for
quantitative) or the interest of the study
(for qualitative).
What is the comparison or is there a
comparison group(s) used? If none, what is
the current applicable practice or status?
The sample included 203 patients who
complied with the study criteria and
volunteered to participate in the study after
being informed about it. Diagnosed with
substance abuse according to DSM-IV TR
criteria, having passed the withdrawal stage,
being between the ages of 16 and 65,
volunteering to participate in the study.
They made use of convenience sampling to
choose the respondents. The sample size is
appropriate for the type of research conducted
(descriptive, correlational, cross-sectional
study).
The researchers made use of 3 instruments in
the gathering of their data. First a social-
Demographic questionnaire that included
individual characteristics and substance use
characteristics. This was done face to face
with a researcher. The next is the
Coopersmith Self-esteem scale which
consisted of 25 world-view, behavior in social
settings and the ability of the individual to
tolerate certain circumstances questions. And
lastly, a social functioning scale. This ranges
from 1-7. 1 being socially withdrawn and 7
being capable for placement in a work
environment.
In the present, substance abuse patients are
treated supportively through their symptoms,
with this study, they focused more on the
previous experiences of the patient which
could have led to their condition now, and
they also explored on the ways these patients
might regain their functioning.
Identify the outcome of interest. To determine whether these different factors
would be correlated with one another.

6. Does the intervention support/contradict current nursing practice? Support your

answer using other relevant references.
- Yes, it supports current nursing practice. One factor they found was the correlation
with age of first use, with low self-esteem. With this knowledge we nurses,
especially those in the school or community should know how to identify risk
factors adolescents might have that would predispose them to self-destructive
behavior such as this ang manipulate their environment to prevent the propagation
of the events that could lead up to the use of these substances.
7. Would this practice change/improve process of patient care? Patient outcomes?
- Yes definitely. They have found that the longer the duration of use of substances,
would lead to lower levels of social functioning in the patient. With this knowledge,
we would know that a patient with longer known use of substances would need
more attention and aid rather than those with shorter terms. Another significant
finding was the positive correlation between the self-esteem of a patient and their
level of functioning. While the article doesn’t clearly explain how this would be if
the patient’s use of substances was longer, we as nurses could increase our patient’s
self esteem during interventions such as therapy to be able to – as this study
suggests – increase also their level of functioning.
8. Write a synthesis of the article read.
- The researchers wanted to conduct this study to examine the levels of social
functioning and self-esteem in individuals diagnosed with substance abuse. This
study revealed that abusers have decreased levels of self-esteem and social
functioning. Their study will be instructive for coping with substance abuse and the
treatment of patients as well as contributing to the nursing care of psychiatry nurses.
The main recommendation the researchers gave was to let patients undergo
counselling to improve the levels of self-esteem and social functioning to further
aid in their treatment.