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Objective Systematically identifying reasons that clients enter substance abuse treatment may allow clinicians to immediately focus on issues of greatest relevance to the individual and enhance treatment engagement. We developed the Survey of Treatment Entry Pressures (STEP) to identify the specific factors that precipitated an individual's treatment entry. The instrument contains 121 items from 6 psychosocial domains (i.e., family, financial, social, medical, psychiatric, legal). The current study examined the STEP's psychometric properties. Method A total of 761 participants from various treatment settings and modalities completed the STEP prior to treatment admission and 4-7 days later. Analyses were performed to examine the instrument's psychometric properties including item response rates, test-retest reliability, internal consistency, and factor structure. Results The items displayed adequate test-retest reliability and internal consistency within each psychosocial domain. Generally, results from exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses support a 2-factor structure reflecting type of reinforcement schedule. Conclusion The study provides preliminary support for the psychometric properties of the STEP. The STEP may provide a reliable way for clinicians to characterize and capitalize on a client's treatment motivation early on which may serve to improve treatment retention and therapeutic outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives Recent research has suggested that specific metacognitions may play a role in the activation and escalation of desire thinking and craving. The goal of this research project was to develop the first self-report instrument of metacognitions about desire thinking. Method We conducted three studies with nonclinical samples (N = 213, N = 279, N = 60) to construct the Metacognitions about Desire Thinking Questionnaire (MDTQ) and test its structure and psychometric properties. A fourth study was added to test the predictive validity of MDTQ in a sample of alcohol abusers (N = 75). Results Explorative and confirmatory factor analysis supported a 3-factor solution: positive metacognitions about desire thinking, negative metacognitions about desire thinking, and need to control desire related thoughts. Internal consistency, divergent validity, temporal stability were also examined in a community sample and predictive validity was confirmed even in a sample of alcohol abusers. Conclusions The MDTQ was shown to possess good psychometric properties, as well as divergent and predictive validity within the populations that were tested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mechanism of change in Alcoholics Anonymous is described as “spiritual transformation.” A.A. acknowledges that such transformation can occur gradually; however, nearly all of the examples presented in the Big Book of A.A. involve discrete and sudden experiences that resemble the phenomenon of quantum change. The sequence offered describes how spiritual transformations transpire. The sequence begins with hitting bottom, recognition of inability to control the problem. A feeling of contrition follows, describing not only sorrow for the present state, but also desire for a new way. The final step is the act of surrendering one's will to a higher power. The de profundis sequence sets the process of spiritual transformation in motion, offering stabilization to sobriety. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol/In Session. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interest in assessing and treating a variety of psychological conditions with software programs is increasing rapidly. This article reviews a software program for problem drinkers entitled the Drinker's Check-Up (DCU) and illustrates its use with three patients. The DCU is based on the principles of brief motivational interventions and can be used as a stand-alone intervention by therapists without expertise in substance abuse or as a prelude to alcohol treatment services. It is the first software program to provide integrated assessment, feedback, and assistance with decision making for individuals experiencing problems with alcohol. Preliminary data from an ongoing clinical trial of the DCU as a stand-alone intervention indicate that it is an effective intervention for a wide range of problem drinkers. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Clin Psychol/In Session. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Presents information on a study which focused on the psychological functions of sober alcoholics in relation to their performance. Discussion on delayed memory in sober alcoholics; Comparison of the performance of chronic alcoholics to non-alcoholics; Results of the study.

Examines the frequent, moderate, occasional and nonparticipation of male alcohols in the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) organization program during the first month after treatment. Indepth look at the consumption of alcohol by the non-participants; Comparison of the moderate to the occasional participants; Discussion on the outcome of the occasional and moderate AA attendants.

Focuses on a study of the severity of alexithymia and its symptoms among alcoholics. What the Pearson Product Moment Correlations demonstrated; Method that was used to conduct the study; Findings of the study.

Cloninger's Type 1/Type 2 classification scheme was examined in 82 male alcoholics. Only 16% were classified by presence/absence of Type l/Type 2 symptoms. When age of symptom onset was considered, 75.6% were classified into early (ESO) and late symptom onset (LSO) groups. Relatively few group differences were found: ESOs were younger, had lower SES, began drinking earlier, reported greater frequency of maternal alcoholism and more severe paternal alcoholism, and reported more antisocial behaviors. ESO/LSOs did not differ on neuropsychological performance, although both performed poorer then controls. Differences between these findings and those found with female ESO/LSO alcoholics are discussed and clinical implications considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nineteen Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) or revised Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI-2) scales, purported to be predictive of treatment outcome, were related to length of stay (LOS) in a domiciliary and to discharge status from a domiciliary for 335 subjects. The revised MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC-R), Addiction Acknowledgement Scale (AAS), and Addiction Potential Scale (APS), scales indicating a propensity to use illicit substances, and the Psychopathic Deviate Scale (Pd), indicating acting-out, all correlate negatively with length of stay. AAS also correlates negatively with regular/irregular discharge. Other scales expected to predict treatment outcome do not significantly correlate with either length of stay or type of discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Methodological characteristics and substantive findings of investigations of essential and reactive alcoholics were reviewed. The data base was comprised of approximately 12 studies published between 1951–1992, most of which employed small samples of hospitalized male alcoholics. Psychometric properties of the Essential-Reactive Alcoholism Questionnaire, the instrument generally used to assess the essential-reactive dimensions, rarely were examined. The weight of the evidence suggests that essential alcoholics have earlier onset and greater severity of alcoholism, lower levels of occupational and educational achievement, more interpersonal conflict, fewer long-term friendships, more antisocial attitudes and conduct, greater density of familial alcoholism, more impaired neuropsychological functioning, and lower resting blood pressure than do reactive alcoholics. Research is needed to assess the prognostic utility of the essential-reactive typology and the degree to which the distinction may facilitate patient-treatment matching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The first aim of the present study was to examine whether the items on the Alcohol Expectancy Questionnaire Tension-Reduction Subscale (TR-AEQ) measure a common underlying factor. The second and third aims, respectively, were to assess the factoral invariance of the TR-AEQ across gender and drinking frequency. Subjects were 503 social-drinking college undergraduates. Confirmatory factor analyses indicated that a common-factor model with seven pairs of correlated disturbances fit the data well. Equivalence testing yielded factorial invariance across gender and partial factorial invariance across drinking frequency. These data support the factorial validity of the TR-AEQ and have implications for psychometric assessment and the evaluation and identification of problem drinking behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paradoxical continuation of excessive drinking by chronic alcoholics despite extremely aversive personal deterioration is addressed by a two-factor theory. The theory regards the increasing stereotypy of alcohol-related behaviors as a function of: (a) primary neuropsychological impairments that result from alcohol abuse and (b) secondary fears of catastrophic failure attendant upon brain dysfunction, which leads to acquired aversions to situations that require adaptive behaviors. A schematic quantitative model of this formulation is presented that may be useful to practicing psychologists in explaining perserverative behavior in a variety of brain syndromes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correlates of the original and revised Wechsler scales were investigated among a sample of alcohol abusers referred for assessment of possible intellectual impairment. Fifty of the subjects were assessed with the original scale, while 44 were examined with the revised scale. The correlates of the two scales with other intellectual, demographic, and drinking variables suggested that the established correlates of the original scale may be cautiously assumed to hold for the revised version. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study assessed locus of control, general level of life satisfaction, and self-reported grade-point averages among adults who had experienced either alcoholism within the family of origin, traumatic life events other than alcoholism, or who indicated neither problem during their child- hood. Results indicated that both the adult children of alcoholics (ACOA) and traumatic experience (TE) groups had lower life satisfaction scores than the control group. Significantly lower levels of locus of control also were found for the ACOA group in comparison to the control group. There were no significant differences among the three groups based on self-reported GPAs. Results of the current study support the concept that family dysfunction during childhood can influence negatively later life experiences and adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Common Alcohol Logistic-Revised (CAL-R) scale was developed for use with MMPI or MMPI-2 with medical patients. It was derived from the Common Alcohol Logistic (CAL) scale and developed by (1) dropping the six CAL items deleted from the MMPI during construction of the MMPI-2 and recomputing item weights (using logistic regression); (2) calculating norms; and (3) repeating the validation procedure used in developing CAL. We used the same criterion group (1,221 alcoholics) and same contrast sample 0.621 nonalcoholic medical patients) used for CAL. Comparison of receiver operating characteristic curves, positive predictive value, and negative predictive-value for CAL. and CAL-R indicates that the latter has the same favorable ability to screen medical patients for alcoholism as the former. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study compared 69 adult children of alcoholics (ACOAs) with 30 control college students on scales from the revised MMPI (MMPI-2). ACOA subjects could be differentiated from control subjects on several MMPI-2 scales and two-scale profiles, many of which differentiate alcoholic from nonalcoholic samples. However, the length of time the child had lived in the home with the alcoholic parent and the degree of impairment associated with alcohol abuse in the parent did not moderate these findings. In contrast, MMPI-2 scales that measure impulsive and antisocial behavior did differentiate ACOAs who drank at least once a week from ACOAs who did not report this level of drinking. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of 44 Finnish alcoholics was measured on a Vygotskian version of the Raven's Progressive Matrices and four traditional static tests (the Digit Symbol and Block Design subtests from the WAIS, Part B of the Trail Making Test, and the Embedded Figures Test). Of the static tests only the Block Design showed consistent congruence with the results of the learning potential test. The other static tests discriminated only partially from each other the groups which were formed according to learning potential. The most fruitful way to test alcoholics is probably to have a flexible combination of static and dynamic tests. We also need to have tests that are applicable to both static and dynamic testing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sober male and female alcoholics and peer controls were tested and then retested 14 months later on neuropsychological performance tests (NTP) and also had event-related potentials (ERPs) recorded (non-concurrently) to visual stimulation. Both NTP and ERP measures distinguish male alcoholics from peer controls at test and retest; NTP, but not ERP, scores distinguish female alcoholics from peer controls. Both measures manifest moderate to high reliabilities over time and are correlated modestly. NTP and ERP measures obtained at the end of treatment predict future resumers and abstainers 8 to 14 months later. The results demonstrate the utility of biopsychological approaches to alcoholism and support Grant's (1986) concept of alcoholics as suffering from an intermediate duration (subacute) organic mental disorder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A Wherry (1984) hierarchical factor solution was obtained on the WAIS-R subtest intercorrelations for 108 alcoholic adults. An ability arrangement consistent with Vernon's (1950)structure-of-intellect paradigm was found. This ability hierarchy consisted of a strong general intelligence (g) factor defined by all 11 subtests, which accounted for 49% of the variance. The primary level of the ability hierarchy consisted of spatial-perceptual-mechanical (k:m), Freedom from Distractibility (FD), and Verbal Comprehension (VC) factors. Those respective factors accounted for 86%, 4%, and 3% of the total subtest variance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined three outcomes of assertion training considered relevant for alcoholics; (a) assertive behavior in negative situations; (b) discomfort in negative situations that call for assertive behavior; and (c) expectations of assertive behavior in sober vs. intoxicated states. Subjects were 38 male alcoholics in an inpatient treatment program. Although some behavioral competencies were acquired after assertion training, such training did no differentially reduce discomfort in negative situations or the discrepancy between perceptions of assertiveness in sober vs. intoxicated states at post-test or at 6-week follow-up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Verbal fluency deficits in female alcoholics (n = 48) were investigated using Thurstone's Word Fluency Test (TWFT) and a category fluency test. Overall, alcoholics performed less well than did controls (n = 36). Simple effects indicate that although controls performed less well on category fluency than on the TWFT, alcoholics did not differ between the two tests. Simple effects also show that controls' performance was superior to that of alcoholics on the category fluency test, but the groups did not differ on the TWFT. The pattern of results suggests that the process of shifting rapidly between categories is more difficult than perusing a mental lexicon. Correlations between these tasks and other tests of cognitive functioning suggest that the TWFT and the category fluency test may be assessing different types of verbal fluency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed a MMPI alcoholism scale based on adult medical patient samples. Our criterion group consisted of 736 inpatients (525 males; 211 females) diagnosed as having alcoholism according to DSM-III criteria. Three contrast samples that totaled 13,120 individuals were used for control purposes. MMPI items were chosen by means of logistic regression. The 33 items yielded by this procedure formed a provisional scale (CAL, for common alcoholism logistic) that worked equally well for males and females. With new cross-validation samples, with sensitivity (propagation of alcoholics correctly identified) set at 90%, the specificity (proportion of nonalcoholics correctly identified) range from 90% to 96% for selected contrast samples. We conclude that this scale shows promise as a screening device in similar populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two hundred male alcoholics were given 94 true-false items constructed to characterize alcoholic defensiveness, and a factor analysis revealed two strong factors. The first factor (Denial) was correlated with items that asserted an ability to control one's drinking, denied being an alcoholic or needing treatment, or minimized the consequences of alcohol abuse. Items that loaded the other factor (Rationalization) gave reasons, justifications, and excuses for drinking. Two derived scales were examined in a replication sample of 66 male alcoholics, and alpha coefficients (.84 and .85) from the first sample did not show undue shrinkage in the second (.86 and .77). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little convergence has been found in the area of subtyping alcoholic personalities. Prior work has suffered from the use of single inventories, inventories with large distress factors, or inventories that lack broad theoretical appeal. The present work (N = S9) transcends idiosyncratic cluster solutions through the use of canonical correlation of the Basic Personality Inventory and the Milan Clinical Multiaxial Inventory. The resulting global canonical variates are cluster analyzed to a six-cluster solution. These sub- types are described through their scores on the canonical variates and the underlying psychometric inventories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The correlates of the Weigl Color-Form Sorting Test in a group of 48 alcoholic inpatients were explored. It was predicted that Weigl performance would be related to conceptual flexibility (Trails B), verbal conceptual ability (Similarities), and symbol substitution (Digit Symbol). It was predicted further that the Weigl would be unrelated to Vocabulary and Trails A. Significant correlation coefficients for the Weigl were obtained with education, Vocabulary, Digit Symbol, and Trails B. However, a stepwise regression analysis disclosed that only Trails B was a significant predictor of Weigl performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study designed to identify clinically meaningful differences between continuous and episodic drinkers who were entering inpatient treatment (N = 125) on the basis of information from intake administrations of the revised Alcohol Evaluation Instrument, the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory, and the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory. Separate discriminant analyses based upon (a) the MCMI and ALCEVAL-R and (b) MMPI and ALCEVAL-R yielded correct classification rates of 86% and 85%, respectively. Both analyses suggest that continuous drinkers may be characterized by a greater confused and disorganized thinking, agitation, and cynicism and distrust in interpersonal relationships than are episodic drinkers. In contrast, episodic drinkers appear to have somewhat more socially conforming attitudes that may inhibit daily social drinking. Despite this, episodic drinking was associated with a higher divorce rate (71% vs. 32%) and less occupational stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the ability of the MacAndrew Alcoholism Scale (MAC) to distinguish between alcoholics and nonalcoholics using self ratings from patrons of taverns while only about 14 percent of the variance in the MAC Scale was accounted for by the self rating. The MAC Scale correctly identified 70.25 of those who reported alcohol use to levels consistent with alcoholic dependency alter variance in the alcohol use scale. Over the years, investigators have empirically constructed scales using Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) items in an attempt to identify alcoholics in the general population.

Methodological variations in the scoring and interpretation of the MMPI and their effects on discrimination between borderline and non-borderline personality disordered alcoholics were investigated. Subjects were 49 male and female inpatient alcoholics in an Icelandic psychiatric hospital. Gunderson's Diagnostic Interview for Borderlines and the Michigan Alcoholism Screening Test were used to diagnose borderline personality disorder and alcoholism, respectively. Scoring and interpretation of the MMPI were varied in terms of the use and non-use of high F-scale profiles, and their impact on the frequency of various code types among borderline and non-borderline personality disordered alcoholics was considered. It was found that such methodological variations do not affect the frequency of some profile types, and, consequently, the discrimination between the diagnostic groups. Studies and coding systems should consider methodological variations in the scoring and interpretation of MMPI profiles and their consequent effects on diagnosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the impact of cognitive retraining on a sample of neurocognitively impaired alcoholics (N = 45). The treatment group received training on a hierarchical cumulative learning program. In this paradigm, the subjects mastered an isolated concept to automaticity, at which point a second and then a third concept were added. The training group demonstrated significantly improved performance over the practice and control groups on the three measures taken from the Wisconsin Card Sorting Test: total number of categories, perseverative errors, and nonperseverative errors. Neither the practice nor the control group exhibited significantly improved performance. These data lend support to an information process- lag perspective and are at odds with research that infers that neurophysiological substrates preclude normal functioning in alcoholics and argues that mere exposure of alcoholics to training stimuli prompts significant improvements. Treatment implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study reports a study of a Spanish translation of Form A of the Whitaker Index of Schizophrenic Thinking (WIST) administered to 104 Mexican subjects: 40 schizophrenic (20 acute and 20 chronic) and 64 nonschizophrenic (10 nonschizophrenic hospitalized, 10 alcoholics, and 44 normals). A multiple regression analysis was carried out in order to evaluate the existing relation between each of the MMPI and WIST forms. The results suggest thin this translation effectively discriminates between schizophrenics and nonschizophrenics on the WIST Total Score, Time, and Index. A cut-off of 23 on the WIST Index correctly identified 79% of the total subjects. The WIST, as well as the MMPI, separately detects in a reliable way schizophrenic subjects, but the correlation between the Index of the WIST and the MMPI 8 or schizophrenia scale by itself is not significant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Zung Depression Scale was given to 45 Israeli male alcoholics as diagnosed by DSM-III criteria. Eighteen subjects came from an outpatient alcohol clinic, and 27 came from an inpatient detoxification center. In this cohort, 60% of subjects were classified as having clinical depression, and major depressive disorder was found in 26% of inpatients and 17% of outpatients. Pattern analysis of the Zung showed a disproportionately high percentage of all subjects responding to clinical symptoms featured in bipolar disorder, while the inpatient group reported significantly more difficulty than the out-patient group on parameters of pervasive affective disorder, early and fre- quent waking, constipation, irritability, and emptiness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study reports on principal component analyses of the MCMI-1 at the item level. The 175 items of the MCMI were separated for analysis into 100 descriptive of personality and 75 that represent clinical symptoms. The data analyzed came from a sample of 253 psychiatric outpatients and a sample of 185 inpatient alcoholics. The screen test was applied to decide on the number of factors to retain. The factors retained in the four analyses were rotated by the Varimax and Direct Oblimin procedures. The results were similar across the two samples. The six personality dimensions isolated were interpreted as Social Introversion-Extraversion, Dependency on Others, Verbal Hostility, Need to Please Others, Self-Dramatization, and Orderliness. These have some resemblance to Millon's eight personality styles. Four of the five symptom factors were similar to Millon's clinical symptom scales. In addition to a very large Depression factor, there were factors of Manic Excitement, Drug Abuse, Alcoholic Misuse, and Suicidal Ideation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A correlational study that included 82 male inpatient alcoholics was conducted to determine the clinical meaning of the Keane PTSD Scale of the MMPI. The PTSD Scale was correlated with the variables of the Shipley Institute of Living Scale, the Life Purpose Questionnaire, the Existential Depression Test, and the standard MMPI measures) plus the A, R, Es and MacAndrew Scales. The pattern of correlations suggested that the PTSD scale measures general psychological maladjustment and dysphoric feelings rather than any specifiable syndrome. The strong correlation with the Welch A, which measures a general level of maladjustment, suggests that the PTSD and Welch A scales are measuring the same factor. The PTSD scale, therefore, appears to provide very little information about this population beyond that available from the overall clinical profile and the Welch A scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sixty subjects (20 alcoholic inpatients, 20 outpatient alcoholics, and 20 surgical controls from two Veterans Administration hospitals) were tested on field independence-dependence (measured by the Rod-and-Frame Test), realistic/unrealistic self-expectations (on the Level of Aspiration Board), and degree of alcohol dependence (on the Alcohol Dependence Scale). Response bias and current intelligence were controlled. As predicted, alcoholic inpatients were more alcohol dependent than outpatients, both groups of alcoholics were found to be more field dependent and more unrealistic in their self-expectations than controls, and field dependence was related to unrealistic expectations. Patterns of differentiation and expectation were similar in both alcoholic groups. Results support the consistency of differentiation levels within clinical groups and the relationship between field dependence and unrealistic self-expectation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was designed to identify clinically meaningful differences between Continuous and Episodic Drinkers who were entering inpatient treatment on the basis of demographic, social functioning, and drinking information, as well as scores based on an intake administration of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory. A discriminant analysis correctly classified 79% of patients into Continuous and Episodic Drinking groups. Variables that had both interpretable loadings on the discriminant function and scores that were associated positively with membership in the Continuous Drinking group include the Psychotic Thinking, Passive-Aggressive, Avoidant, and Psychotic Depression scales of the MCMI and a questionnaire item, "Drinking helps me to work better." In contrast, scores on the Conforming-Compulsive scale of the MCMI were associated positively with membership in the Episodic Drinking group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on a study of the cognitive functioning of alcoholics from the Oklahoma City Veterans Administration program for a number of years. As part of the treatment program, group testing data are collected on all patients after they have been sober for a minimum of 2 week. Alcoholic subjects who refused to participate in an extensive neuropsychological study performed less well than those who agreed to participate and those who were ineligible. The latter groups did not differ significantly in performance. Further, depression, state anxiety, the Hyperkinesis/Minimal Brain Damage scores, and vocabulary scores could not account for these findings.

The article focuses on a study conducted to substantiate the encouraging findings of a previous study with a second sample of amnesiac and alcoholic patients. To this end, amnesiac patients were rated on the Inpatient Memory Impairement Scale (IMIS), and these ratings were correlated with performance on a range of memory tasks, including practical tasks, experimental tasks, and orientation questionnaires. The main finding of this study is that the IMIS is a psychometrically reliable and valid measure when used with amnesiac patients.

The article discusses accelerated mental aging in alcoholic patients. Discriminant function and polynomial regression methods were used to define a mental age function from scale score profile patterns found in the (Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale) WAIS manual. Values on the mental age function then were calculated from WAIS scale score profiles for 164 alcoholics in the age range 35 to 74. Validity of the mental age function was evident in clear discrimination between chronological age groups in the alcoholic sample. As compared with WAIS normative values for the mental age function, the mean mental age for patients in the alcoholic sample was advanced approximately 7 years over age-matched normals.

The article presents personality and biographic data that characterize men who abuse their wives. Through limited research has been conducted with men who batter, certain characteristics of these men emerge throughout literature. The following characteristics have been found among men who batter: violence between the batterer's parents, abuse of batterer when he was a child, alcohol and drug abuse, and economic stress. The purpose of the study presented in this article was to extend available knowledge about abusive men by analyzing data available from a large treatment program in Cleveland, Ohio.

This article presents a study, which presents data on a sample of 70 pathological gamblers, 70 alcoholics in treatment, and 70 medical/surgical controls on the California Personality Inventory. Gamblers and alcoholics differed significantly from hospitalized controls on a number of scales, particularly on measures of socialization, ego control, and flexibility. The California Personality Inventory differs importantly from the MMPI in its general purpose, standardization groups, and theoretical foundation. While the MMPI picks out serious psychopathology typically found in disturbed and institutionalized populations, the CPI yields a picture of personality that uses dimensions found in all adults.

This article reports that the need for differential assessment and treatment within alcoholic populations seems unquestionable nonetheless. Potentially useful typologies have been derived and partially validated for different sophisticated, broad spectrum objective instruments, such as the Differential Personality Inventory or the Personality Research Form. A better strategy appears to be an Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI)-based typology with additional measures of specific meaning in the treatment of the clinical population of choice, and even the setting.

The article focuses on a study to test the conflicting positions which maintain that moderate drinking invariably and rapidly leads alcoholics to uncontrolled inebriacy and that alcoholics are capable of sustaining controlled drinking over long periods without special training. The subjects were 42 men selected from a group of 100 former inpatients who were participating in a voluntary follow-up study. Follow-up ratings were obtained, usually by telephone, from acquaintances whom the subjects had identified as likely to know their future whereabouts and conditions. The results suggest that the outcomes for alcoholics who indulge in controlled drinking without special training may be neither worse nor better than those of alcoholics who do not.

The article focuses on a study which discusses the age and sex differences in the responses of alcoholics to the Self-Administered Alcoholism Screening Test. Data on 583 patients were used for this study. Each patient was interviewed by a chemical dependency counselor, a psychiatric or medical resident and a supervising psychiatrist with experience in the field of alcoholism. There was a significant tendency for women alcoholics to report a greater incidence of problems with alcohol in other members of their families, especially spouses and siblings. The finding of significant sex differences on five of the six components of alcoholism patterns and consequences has a number of interesting ramifications.

The article focuses on a study related to alcoholics' self-assessment of their neuropsychological functioning in everyday life. Subjects were 60 alcoholics and 60 nonalcoholic controls matched for age, education and Shipley Scale Vocabulary Age. Subjects completed a neuropsychological test battery that required 6 to 8 hours to administer. Claimed impairment of everyday neuropsychological functioning is related positively to depression, anxiety and reported alcohol intake in alcoholics and to depression and anxiety in controls. In both alcoholics and controls, claims of everyday impairment essentially were uncorrelated with measured neuropsychological test performance.

This article focuses on the memory evaluation of alcoholics with the revised Wechsler Memory Scale (RWMS). WMS is the most commonly used battery for the clinical assessment of memory and was developed with the intent of providing a measure of memory impairment secondary to brain damage. However, the present study was designed to evaluate the utility of the RWMS in the identification of memory impairment in recently detoxified alcoholics without evidence of central nervous system dysfunction. Furthermore, the use of scale scores for estimation of severity of impairment would provide insight into the practical significance of the findings.

The article examines color preference and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scores of alcohol and drug addicts. The present study examines relationships of color preference on the Luescher Color Test (LCT) to MMPI scores in a group of chronic alcoholics and drug addicts, and also compares their color preferences to those of normal controls. It was expected that LCT and MMPI measures of pathology would be interrelated positively, and that LCT scores would be less pathological in the sample of normals.

The article examines the patterns of consistency and change on the basic personality and symptom scales of the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory (MCMI) in a sample of VA inpatient alcoholics, who were administered the MCMI at intake and at 1 month into treatment, and in a sample of drug abusers, who received MCMI administrations at intake into treatment and after 1 and 3 months of treatment. The MCMI is designed to assess and differentiate among enduring personality characteristics and more transient clinical symptoms.

The article cites a study which evaluates whether, when discriminant analyses were employed, classification accuracy of age-group membership for alcoholics would improve with the addition of 15 experimental Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) scales to the ten clinical and three validity scales. The other purpose of the article is to determine which age-groups significantly differ on scales that are affected by age. Subjects were 101 male Caucasian alcoholics who were receiving inpatient treatment for alcoholism. The analysis of age association with MMPI protocols was assessed in two stages. First, one-way ANOVAs were computed on age groups to identify differences on the clinical and experimental scales. Second, two discriminant function analyses were conducted.

The article cites a study which examines the association between Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) codetypes and four psychotic groups. These four psychotic groups are, schizophrenics, major depressives, bipolar-depressed and bipolar-manics. This study utilizes the full version of the MMPI. Recruitment of psychiatric inpatients occurred at one small state, one private, and one medical school psychiatric facility. Patients with a primary diagnosis of alcoholism, drug abuse, or a CNS impairment were not considered for recruitment.

The article focuses on a study which investigates the Luria-Nebraska Intellectual Processes Scale as a predictor of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS) IQs among alcoholic inpatients. Subjects were 28 males who were receiving inpatient alcoholism treatment. Patients were administered the WAIS and the Luria-Nebraska Neuropsychological Battery as part of a more extensive investigation of neuropsychological assessment in alcoholics. Frequency of agreement between obtained IQs and those predicted from the present regression equations was assessed using Wechsler's seven category classification system.