자아존중감이 약물 사용 경험에 미치는 영향: 손실 인식의 매개효과를 중심으로

초록

In South Korea, drug use has recently increased sharply, emerging as a serious social issue that can no longer be overlooked. Unlike traditional crimes, which involve identifiable victims, drug use is often considered a “victimless crime” because it is difficult to pinpoint direct victims. However, in reality, the user themselves may suffer from health deterioration and impaired interpersonal relationships, while broader social costs arise, such as economic downturns and increased drug-related crime. In other words, drug use generates both personal and social losses simultaneously. Despite growing awareness of the personal harm caused by drug use, public understanding and discourse regarding its social consequences remain limited. Against this backdrop, the present study examined how self-esteem, a psychological factor, influences the perception of both personal and social losses. Self-esteem serves not only as a motivation to regard oneself as a valuable individual but also as an attitude that fosters acceptance of others and respect for their rights, linking closely to a sense of community. Accordingly, it was hypothesized that individuals with higher self-esteem would be more likely to consider both the personal and social losses associated with drug use. Based on this premise, the study tested the mediating effect of loss perception on the relationship between self-esteem and drug use experience. The results indicated that self-esteem had a significant positive effect on both personal and social loss perception and a negative effect on drug use experience. However, the mediating effect of loss perception was not statistically significant. Nevertheless, the findings underscore the importance of self-esteem in not only strengthening psychological protective factors to address drug-related problems but also fostering empathic awareness of the social consequences of drug use, highlighting the broader significance of this study.

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