Prediction of Substance Use in the Workplace: Unique Contributions of Personal Background and Work Environment Variables

Abstract

Relationships of personal and job factors with employee substance use in a sample of municipal workers were assessed. Logistic regression results showed that personal and job domains each significantly predicted substance use at and away from work, although the best fit was provided by a model including both domains. The profile of the employee most likely to be a substance abuser was a young male with low self-esteem and an arrest history, who came from a family with substance abuse problems, and associated with substance-using peers. The drug-using employee was also likely to be estranged from work and to work under risky job conditions.