Exploring Object Relations and Self-Structure in Men With Substance Use Disorders

A Qualitative Study

Amiri, Tina
Summers, Frank
Ghafoori, Samaneh
Dehghani, Mahmood

Clinical Psychology Program, Graduate Studies, Chicago School of Professional Psychology
Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University
Mashhad, Iran
School of Behavioral Sciences and Mental Health, Tehran Institute of Psychiatry, Iran University of Medical Sciences

The authors have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships to declare that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this article. The procedure was approved by the ethics committee of Iran’s University of Medical Sciences (IR.IUMS.REC.1397.465). This study did not receive any financial support. The editorial assistance and text reviewing of John Gale are very appreciated.

Tina Amiri, MSc, Clinical Psychology Program, Graduate Studies, Chicago School of Professional Psychology, 325 North Wells Street, Chicago, IL 60654, United States [email protected]

Psychoanalytic Psychology 42(1):p 46-54, January 2025. | DOI: 10.1037/pap0000529

Psychoanalytic perspectives consider that object relations and deficits of self-structure play a significant role in the etiology of substance use disorders. However, despite the rich psychoanalytic literature addressing this issue, there is only a limited amount of research supportive of these approaches. This study aimed to illustrate a comprehensive picture of object-relational patterns and deficits affecting the self-structure of substance abusers. The research was conducted based on a qualitative method and the content analysis method of Graneheim and Lundman’s approach, and 23 patients with substance use disorder participated in it. Finally, four themes were identified as follows: relational patterns, quality of representations, defense mechanisms, and filling an inner void.