Substance Use Alienation and Psychological Capital in Individuals with Methamphetamine Dependence: A Mediating Role of Criminogenic Cognition

The main objective of the present study was to determine the relationship between substance use alienation (SUA) and psychological capital (PC) with the mediating role of criminogenic cognition among individuals with substance use disorder. This correlational study included a representative sample of 347 participants from various drug rehabilitation centers and hospitals. The study included individuals aged 15 to 29 years, diagnosed with substance use disorder and undergoing treatment. The research protocol included a demographic sheet, the Substance Use Alienation Scale (SUAS), the Criminogenic Cognition Scale (CCS), and the Psychological Capital Questionnaire (PCQ). All the data were screened, and then they were analyzed using SPSS version 26. Mediation analysis was employed using PROCESS Model 4 with 5,000 bootstrapped samples. The results showed that Substance Use Alienation was a significant positive predictor of Criminogenic Cognition (β = .66*, p < .001), and Criminogenic Cognition was a moderately negative but significant predictor of psychological capital (β = -.30*, p < .001). The direct effect remained significant (β = -.39*, p < .001). It is concluded that individuals who experience higher levels of substance use alienation more often tend to have more criminogenic thoughts but less psychological capital. Substance use alienation directly lowers psychological capital, but some of its effects happen indirectly through increased criminogenic cognition.