Table 1: Baseline sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of participants in both groups.

Variables EDW (N = 87) Control (N = 78)
N (%) M (SD) N (%) M (SD)
Age (years) 32.9 (6.7) 31.7 (6.7)
Gender
Males 87 (100.0) 71 (91.0)
Females 0 (0.0) 7 (9.0)
Marital status
Single 40 (46.0) 42 (53.8)
Married 36 (41.4) 25 (32.1)
Divorced/Widow 11 (12.6) 11 (14.1)
Educational level
Primary 21 (24.1) 31 (39.7)
Preparatory 14 (16.1) 5 (6.4)
Secondary 31 (35.6) 26 (33.3)
Associate degree 7 (8.0) 5 (6.4)
University or higher 14 (16.1) 11 (14.1)
Occupation
Professional work 8 (9.2) 4 (5.1)
Commercial work 4 (4.6) 4 (5.1)
Occupational work 57 (65.5) 47 (60.3)
Unemployed 15 (17.2) 18 (23.1)
Student/House wife/others 3 (3.4) 5 (6.4)
Financial status†
Not enough 23 (26.7) 25 (32.1)
Enough 56 (65.1) 52 (66.7)
More than enough 7 (8.1) 1 (1.3)
Substances abused‡
Cannabis 66 (75.9) 55 (70.5)
Bango 19 (21.8) 22 (28.2)
Heroin 64 (73.6) 63 (80.8)
Chemical preparations 69 (79.3) 63 (80.8)
Alcohol 31 (35.6) 35 (44.9)
Others 15 (17.2) 16 (20.5)
Duration of abuse (years) 14.8 (10.0) 13.7 (7.4)
No of quitting trials§ 13.3 (23.3) 13.8 (15.8)
No of hospital admission 3.5 (4.1) 4.4 (5.4)
Time period after last admission (days) 20.4 (9.9) 62.4 (72.0)

EDW = Expressive Disclosure Writing; One respondent in the EDW group had a missing value; This was a multiple response question where individuals may endorse more than one choice; §One respondent in the control group had a missing value.