© 2003 BY THE JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES JOURNAL OF DRUG ISSUES 0022-0426/03/01 161-192 PERCEIVED TEMPTATION TO USE DRUGS AND ACTUAL DRUG USE AMONG WOMEN HUGH KLEIN, KIRK W. ELIFSON, CLAIRE E. STERK Much research has been conducted to examine the relationship between various psychological and psychosocial factors and substance use/abuse. Whereas such topics as depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, self-esteem, optimism/ pessimism, coping, and stress/tension have been studied fairly extensively, others have received much less attention. One such understudied psychosocial factor is perceived level of temptation to use drugs under specified circumstances. This research is based on a study of 125 adult women drug users residing in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area, interviewed between August 1997 and August 2000. Street outreach efforts were used to identify potential study participants, with further expansion of the sample done via targeted sampling and ethnographic mapping procedures. The present study examines 16 specific items assessing temptations to use drugs. After describing which circumstances people think will be most likely to bring about greater illegal drug usage, the authors compare perceptions to actual drug use behaviors. Multivariate analyses are conducted to examine the role that perceived temptations to use drugs play in predicting actual drug use when the effects of demographic variables, background experiences, childhood maltreatment experiences, other psychosocial measures, and exposure to substance abusers are taken into account. A multivariate model explaining nearly one-half of the variance in actual drug abuse is derived, and retained several of the temptations-to-use- drugs items. __________ Kirk W. Elifson is a professor of sociology at Georgia State University. He is currently conducting research on intergenerational aspects of drug use, the link between drug use and mental health, drug trends, and gender-specific HIV risk-reduction interventions. Hugh Klein is a senior researcher in the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. He has conducted research on the viability of the female condom; the portrayal of alcoholic beverages in animated cartoons; the efficacy of adolescent drug treatment programs; college students’ beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and problems resulting from alcohol use; and HIV risk behaviors among users of crack cocaine and injected drugs. Claire E. Sterk is a professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. Currently, she conducts research on intergenerational aspects of drug use, the link between drug use and mental health, drug trends, and gender-specific HIV risk-reduction interventions.