Dispositional traits as risk in problem drinking.

A trait-dispositional paradigm for conceptualizing personality provided the framework for investigating the relationship between personality dispositions and drinking problems. This approach was compared directly with personality research based on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI). A total of 241 subjects (192 men and 49 women) were tested at a mandatory Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) first-offender education program. Information was gathered from the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test (MAST), Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) at time of arrest, and two personality tests--the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC) and the Problem Drinker Trait List (PDTL). The psychometric properties of the PDTL were analyzed and compared with those of the MAC. In comparing the two personality tests in terms of their capacity to predict drinking problems over a wide range of drinking severity, the PDTL performed as well or better than the MAC, particularly for drinkers with low arrest BAC. Comparative analysis between the best predictor items of the MAC and of the PDTL revealed little relationship between the item domains. The predictive trait clusters of the PDTL for men were Emotionality/Depressiveness, Impulsivity, and Low Self-Confidence, whereas predictive clusters for women included Depressiveness, Overcontrol, and Alienation.

Gender-specific drinking styles in alcoholics and nonalcoholics.

This study examined sex differences in drinking style when considering both alcoholics and nonalcoholics (controls). The Alcohol Use Inventory was employed as a descriptive instrument. Of the 16 primary scales two results of significant interaction were obtained indicating sex differences in problem drinking practices corrected, as it were, for sex differences in normal drinking practices. Female alcoholics used alcohol to alter their mood more than did the alcoholic men, whereas women in the control group used it less for this purpose than did the male controls. The second interaction effect indicated that female alcoholics drank in response to marital difficulties much more than did male alcoholics. The control women, by contrast, demonstrated less of a likelihood to drink for this reason than did male controls.

Problem drinking and obesity: a comparison in personality patterns and life-style.

Problem drinkers attending an outpatient alcoholism program and obese clients attending an outpatient weight program were compared with each other and with matched control groups on life-style characteristics and personality variables (Adjective Check List). While both treatment groups expressed high dissatisfaction with all aspects of their lives, relative to controls, problem drinkers experienced a greater variety of problems than weight clients. Problem drinkers and weight clients were both significantly differentiated from their respective control groups on 10 of 24 Adjective Check List scales. Moreover, the two treatment groups showed substantial similarity in overall personality profiles. Both groups indicated characteristics of impulsivity, dependency, and self-abasement. Problem drinkers uniquely showed high drive and unconventionality, whereas weight clients uniquely showed submissiveness and low ambition.