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Introduction: Harmful pattern of substances use is increasing in females in recent times. The harmful use of substances may affect the cognitive functioning and personality traits of the person may act as a maintaining factor. In this background, the present study is trying to focus on the impact of harmful patterns of substances uses among adult women and find out the association between cognitive ability and personality factors in them. Methods: The study included total 60 females, 30 in each group of harmful substance users and healthy controls, aged between 18 and 40 years, from urban and semiurban areas of Kolkata, India. It is a cross-sectional study and followed the purposive sampling technique. Results: Results suggest that moderate risky pattern of using substances consecutively for 4 years may impact cognitive functioning (working memory, set shifting ability and learning ability) and distress appraisal in the studied sample. On the contrary, significantly higher psycho-motor speed was found among harmful substance users. Conclusion: It is very important and significant to identify the harmful use of substances in females in the initial stage to control adverse impact and to improve awareness and prevent them from more adverse addictive effect on cognitive and everyday functioning.